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On Tuesday morning residents of the world's most polluted city were faced with exposed to extremely polluted air that registered in the "critical" level.

Record-Breaking Pollution Readings

Several parts of the capital recorded an AQI exceeding 500, which translates to a tenfold increase over the healthy level recommended by the WHO.

Particular areas, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles hit highs of 1800, amounting to 15 to 20 times above healthy standards.

Firecracker Prohibition and Current Policy Shifts

Since 2020, the government had implemented a complete ban on the distribution and bursting of firecrackers during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the deadly haze that covers the city as the cold season begins.

Nevertheless earlier this year, the current regional leadership petitioned the judicial authority to seek a relaxation of the restrictions.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been questioned by conservation groups as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a balance between "heritage and public health".

Judicial Decision and Enforcement

To the disappointment of public health and environmental activists, judges complied with the proposal, stipulating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be ignited during limited hours throughout the Diwali.

On Monday night, there was extensive flouting of the regulated periods across the city, with little monitoring regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the eco-friendly variety.

Many recording stations throughout the capital registered pollution reaching highest levels around the night hours to the most severe measurements observed during Diwali in at least three years.

Regional Consequences

Extensive ignition of fireworks during the festival also triggered a controversy with bordering the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistani the Punjab region partly blaming declining atmospheric conditions in their urban centers on contaminants coming from India following the events.

Long-Standing Environmental Problem

Alarmingly severe levels of air contamination in the capital have remained as a major problem for over a decade and a half, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

Around celebratory seasons, the levels of dangerous airborne contaminants in the atmosphere has been observed to increase dramatically to seventy percent above the most severe levels ever documented in the Chinese city, which was previously considered as the globally most contaminated city.

Multiple Pollution Factors

This crisis in the capital is caused by a convergence of multiple factors including heavy vehicle emissions, construction debris, construction activities, waste incineration and pollutants from crop residue ignition in neighbouring states of neighboring agricultural zones.

Throughout these areas, rural residents regularly burn crop residue to clear them quickly, creating toxic haze that then gets trapped over the city as colder air sets in.

Health and Financial Impact

Both financial and medical toll on the nearly 33 million inhabitants residing in the Delhi area is enormous, according to various studies.

This pollution leads to increased incidence of nervous system, heart and circulatory and lung conditions, and can potentially cause oncological diseases.

Air quality crisis is calculated to be responsible for ten thousand premature deaths annually in the city.