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Tuesday brought inhabitants of the planet's dirtiest urban center found themselves exposed to extremely polluted air that was classified as the "severe" range.

Alarming Air Quality Levels

Multiple areas of the city registered an air quality index above 500, which translates to ten times the healthy threshold established by the WHO.

Certain monitoring stations, readings of toxic particulate matter soared to of 1,800, representing fifteen to twenty times higher than healthy limits.

Pyrotechnics Restrictions and Current Policy Shifts

For the past four years, authorities had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the sale and use of firecrackers during Diwali due to their major role to the dangerous pollution that covers the city as colder weather approaches.

Nevertheless recently, the current city leadership appealed to the supreme court to request a easing of the prohibition.

The suggestion was allowing "green crackers" – historically criticized by environmentalists as being only roughly 30 percent reduced emissions – as a compromise between "heritage and environment".

Court Verdict and Enforcement

To the disappointment of medical and ecological campaigners, judges complied with the appeal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be ignited during designated hours throughout the celebrations.

During the celebrations, there was extensive flouting of the regulated periods across the metropolis, with minimal enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener variety.

Several monitoring devices throughout Delhi showed pollution reaching highest levels around midnight to extremely hazardous levels seen during the festival in at least three years.

International Consequences

The proliferation of pyrotechnics during the festival also triggered a blame game with neighbouring the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab partly blaming worsening air quality in Lahore on contaminants originating in neighboring India following the celebrations.

Persistent Environmental Issue

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

Near the festival period, the levels of toxic particles in the air has been documented to shoot up to seventy percent above the most severe records ever documented in China's capital, which was previously viewed as the planet's dirtiest urban center.

Multiple Contamination Sources

This crisis in the capital is caused by a mix of multiple factors including transportation pollution, construction debris, development work, rubbish burning and smoke from crop residue ignition in neighbouring areas of neighboring agricultural zones.

In these regions, rural residents regularly burn crop residue to prepare for next season, creating toxic pollution that remains stagnant over the capital as cooler air descends.

Health and Economic Consequences

Public health and economic consequences on the approximately 33 million people living in the Delhi area is substantial, according to multiple studies.

This pollution leads to increased incidence of neurological, cardiovascular and lung diseases, and can even lead to oncological diseases.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be responsible for 10,000 early fatalities each year in the capital.