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Tuesday brought residents of this heavily contaminated metropolis were faced with exposed to dangerously toxic air that fell into the "severe" range.

Alarming Air Quality Readings

Various sections of the city registered an air quality index over 500, which translates to 10x the safe threshold set by the WHO.

Certain monitoring stations, readings of PM2.5 and PM10 hit highs of 1800, representing 15 to 20 times exceeding acceptable levels.

Firecracker Restrictions and Recent Developments

Since 2020, the government had maintained a total prohibition on the purchase and ignition of firecrackers during the Festival of Lights due to their substantial impact to the dangerous smog that blankets the capital as the cold season sets in.

Nevertheless earlier this year, the current regional leadership petitioned the supreme court to seek a easing of the ban.

They proposed allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – historically criticized by conservation groups as being only about 30% reduced emissions – as a compromise between "cultural practices and environment".

Judicial Decision and Reality

Much to the frustration of environmental and health activists, the court complied with the appeal, stipulating that green firecrackers could be ignited during specific periods throughout the celebrations.

During the celebrations, there was widespread flouting of the regulated periods across the capital, with little monitoring regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the more environmentally friendly variety.

Many air quality sensors throughout Delhi showed air quality peaking around late evening to extremely hazardous measurements recorded during celebrations in at least recent memory.

International Implications

Extensive ignition of fireworks during the festival also triggered a dispute with adjacent the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistan's Punjab pointing to worsening atmospheric conditions in their urban centers on contaminants traveling from India following the festivities.

Persistent Environmental Issue

The dangerously high concentrations of air contamination in the city have remained as a major challenge for fifteen-plus years, with the problem continuing to worsen.

Near Diwali, the levels of hazardous particulate matter in the atmosphere has been observed to spike to significantly exceeding the worst readings ever recorded in the Chinese city, which was previously regarded as the globally most contaminated metropolis.

Multiple Contamination Factors

The situation in the capital is attributed to a convergence of various sources including automobile exhaust, construction debris, development work, waste incineration and haze from crop residue ignition in neighbouring regions of Punjab and Haryana.

Within these states, farmers illegally set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, producing hazardous smog that then gets trapped over the capital as colder air descends.

Health and Financial Toll

Both financial and medical toll on the approximately 33 million inhabitants calling home the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to multiple research.

The contaminated air results in increased incidence of nervous system, cardiovascular and lung disorders, and can result in oncological diseases.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be responsible for approximately 10k untimely mortalities each year in Delhi.