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On Tuesday morning citizens of the world's most polluted city found themselves inhaling severely hazardous air that fell into the "critical" category.

Alarming Air Quality Measurements

Multiple areas of the capital registered an air quality index above 500, which equals 10x the healthy threshold set by the WHO.

Particular areas, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles soared to of 1,800, amounting to 15 to 20 times higher than acceptable limits.

Pyrotechnics Restrictions and Current Policy Shifts

Beginning in 2020, the government had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the purchase and ignition of firecrackers during the Festival of Lights due to their significant contribution to the deadly smog that engulfs the metropolis as the cold season sets in.

Yet in recent months, the newly elected regional leadership approached the judicial authority to seek a easing of the prohibition.

The suggestion was allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – which have been doubted by environmental experts as being only about 30% reduced emissions – as a compromise between "tradition and ecological concerns".

Legal Decision and Reality

Despite concerns of medical and ecological activists, judicial authorities approved the request, specifying that environmentally conscious fireworks could be set off during specific hours throughout the festival.

During the celebrations, there was widespread disregard of the regulated periods across the capital, with insufficient monitoring regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the eco-friendly version.

Several air quality sensors throughout Delhi registered air quality spiking around midnight to some of the worst levels observed during the festival in at least recent memory.

International Effects

The proliferation of firecrackers during the celebrations also triggered a controversy with adjacent Pakistan, with officials in Pakistan's the Punjab region pointing to deteriorating atmospheric conditions in Lahore on pollutants traveling from India following the celebrations.

Persistent Pollution Problem

Alarmingly severe readings of pollution in the city have persisted as a significant challenge for fifteen-plus years, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Around celebratory seasons, the amount of dangerous particulate matter in the environment has been documented to shoot up to 70% higher the peak readings ever recorded in Beijing, which was previously viewed as the world's most polluted metropolis.

Various Contamination Contributors

The situation in the capital is attributed to a convergence of various sources including heavy vehicle emissions, dust, building projects, waste incineration and haze from agricultural fires in neighbouring areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Throughout these areas, farmers regularly burn crop residue to prepare for next season, generating dangerous haze that remains stagnant over the capital as winter air sets in.

Public Health and Financial Toll

Public health and economic impact on the approximately 33 million residents residing in the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to multiple studies.

The contaminated air causes increased incidence of nervous system, heart and circulatory and breathing diseases, and can even lead to malignancies.

Environmental contamination is calculated to be accounting for 10,000 untimely deaths each year in the city.