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Tuesday brought inhabitants of the world's most polluted city found themselves breathing extremely polluted air that was classified as the "severe" category.

Alarming Air Quality Readings

Several parts of Delhi registered an air quality index over 500, which equals ten times the healthy limit established by the WHO.

Particular areas, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 hit highs of 1,800, equating to 15-20x higher than healthy limits.

Firecracker Ban and New Policy Shifts

Beginning in 2020, authorities had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the purchase and ignition of fireworks during celebrations due to their substantial impact to the deadly pollution that covers the capital as colder weather begins.

Yet earlier this year, the current local government petitioned the supreme court to propose a easing of the ban.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been questioned by environmental experts as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a middle ground between "heritage and ecological concerns".

Court Verdict and Enforcement

Despite concerns of public health and environmental campaigners, judges agreed to the proposal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be ignited during specific time windows throughout the Diwali.

Throughout the festival evening, there was extensive disregard of the designated hours across the metropolis, with minimal monitoring regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener version.

Many monitoring devices throughout Delhi showed contamination spiking around late evening to the most severe measurements observed during Diwali in at least three years.

International Effects

The proliferation of fireworks during the celebrations also sparked a dispute with adjacent Pakistan, with officials in Pakistan's the Punjab region partly blaming worsening air quality in their urban centers on pollutants coming from neighboring India following the celebrations.

Persistent Environmental Issue

Extremely elevated readings of pollution in the city have continued as a significant issue for fifteen-plus years, with the condition showing no improvement.

Near celebratory seasons, the concentration of toxic airborne contaminants in the environment has been found to increase dramatically to significantly exceeding the peak records ever measured in the Chinese city, which was previously regarded as the planet's dirtiest urban center.

Multiple Pollution Factors

The situation in Delhi is resulting from a mix of different contributors including transportation pollution, airborne particles, building projects, rubbish burning and pollutants from farm burning in adjacent regions of farming communities.

Throughout these areas, farmers illegally set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, creating hazardous pollution that becomes contained over the capital as colder air arrives.

Public Health and Financial Toll

Public health and economic toll on the nearly 33 million inhabitants calling home the Delhi area is substantial, according to various studies.

These hazardous conditions results in high levels of neurological, heart and circulatory and respiratory conditions, and can result in malignancies.

Environmental contamination is projected to be causing 10,000 early mortalities per year in the city.