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As Tuesday dawned inhabitants of the world's most polluted city were faced with inhaling severely hazardous air that was classified as the "critical" range.

Extremely High Pollution Measurements

Several parts of the city recorded an pollution measurement above 500, which translates to ten times the recommended level recommended by the global health authority.

In some locations, readings of toxic particulate matter reached peaks of eighteen hundred, amounting to 15 to 20 times higher than safe standards.

Fireworks Restrictions and New Policy Shifts

For the past four years, officials had implemented a total prohibition on the purchase and ignition of fireworks during Diwali due to their substantial impact to the deadly haze that covers the city as the cold season approaches.

Nevertheless in recent months, the newly elected city leadership approached the highest court to propose a modification of the restrictions.

The suggestion was allowing "green crackers" – previously questioned by environmental experts as being only about 30% less polluting – as a compromise between "heritage and environment".

Legal Verdict and Enforcement

To the disappointment of medical and ecological advocates, judges agreed to the appeal, stipulating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be ignited during specific hours throughout the Diwali.

On Monday night, there was considerable disregard of the time restrictions across the metropolis, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the more environmentally friendly variety.

Numerous recording stations throughout the city showed air quality peaking around the night hours to the most severe levels observed during the festival in at least the past three years.

International Effects

The widespread use of pyrotechnics during the celebrations also initiated a blame game with adjacent Pakistan, with officials in Pakistani Punjab province partly blaming declining air quality in the city of Lahore on hazardous particles coming from across the border following the festivities.

Chronic Environmental Problem

Alarmingly severe concentrations of air contamination in the capital have remained as a significant issue for more than 15 years, with the situation continuing to worsen.

During Diwali, the levels of hazardous particulate matter in the environment has been observed to spike to seventy percent above the worst levels ever documented in the Chinese city, which was once considered as the globally most contaminated city.

Diverse Contamination Factors

The situation in Delhi is attributed to a mix of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, building projects, waste incineration and smoke from agricultural fires in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.

Within these states, agricultural workers illegally set their fields on fire to clear them quickly, generating toxic pollution that then gets trapped over the capital as colder air sets in.

Public Health and Economic Toll

Both financial and medical toll on the roughly thirty-three million residents residing in the metropolitan zone is significant, according to various studies.

This pollution leads to high levels of neurological, cardiovascular and breathing conditions, and can result in malignancies.

Environmental contamination is calculated to be responsible for 10,000 early mortalities annually in Delhi.