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On Tuesday morning citizens of the planet's dirtiest urban center were faced with exposed to extremely polluted air that registered in the "severe" level.

Extremely High Pollution Levels

Several parts of the city recorded an AQI above 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the safe threshold set by the WHO.

Particular areas, readings of PM2.5 and PM10 soared to of eighteen hundred, equating to 15 to 20 times above healthy levels.

Pyrotechnics Restrictions and Recent Changes

Since 2020, authorities had enforced a total prohibition on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during celebrations due to their significant contribution to the hazardous smog that blankets the city as the cold season begins.

However in recent months, the recently formed city leadership petitioned the highest court to propose a relaxation of the ban.

The suggestion was allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been criticized by environmental experts as being only about 30% reduced emissions – as a balance between "tradition and environment".

Judicial Ruling and Enforcement

Despite concerns of medical and ecological activists, the court complied with the proposal, stipulating that green firecrackers could be used during designated hours throughout the celebrations.

Throughout the festival evening, there was considerable disregard of the time restrictions across the city, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the supposedly greener version.

Numerous air quality sensors throughout the capital registered pollution reaching highest levels around midnight to extremely hazardous levels observed during celebrations in at least the past three years.

Regional Implications

The proliferation of pyrotechnics during the festival also triggered a dispute with adjacent the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab partly blaming worsening pollution levels in Lahore on pollutants coming from across the border following the festivities.

Long-Standing Environmental Issue

The dangerously high levels of pollution in the capital have continued as a significant issue for more than 15 years, with the condition gradually deteriorating.

Around the festival period, the amount of toxic airborne contaminants in the air has been observed to increase dramatically to seventy percent above the most severe levels ever documented in China's capital, which was formerly regarded as the planet's dirtiest city.

Various Pollution Factors

The problem in Delhi is attributed to a mix of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, construction debris, building projects, garbage fires and pollutants from farm burning in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.

Throughout these areas, rural residents regularly ignite agricultural waste to clear them quickly, generating toxic pollution that becomes contained over the capital as cooler air descends.

Health and Financial Toll

The economic and health toll on the nearly 33 million residents calling home the metropolitan zone is significant, according to multiple investigations.

This pollution results in increased incidence of nervous system, heart and circulatory and lung disorders, and can even lead to cancer.

Air quality crisis is projected to be causing approximately 10k early deaths annually in the capital.