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As Tuesday dawned residents of this heavily contaminated metropolis encountered breathing severely hazardous air that registered in the "critical" category.

Extremely High Pollution Measurements

Various sections of the city registered an AQI over 500, which translates to ten times the healthy limit set by the WHO.

Certain monitoring stations, concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 reached peaks of 1800, amounting to 15-20x exceeding safe limits.

Firecracker Restrictions and Recent Policy Shifts

Since 2020, the government had implemented a complete ban on the sale and use of pyrotechnics during celebrations due to their substantial impact to the hazardous haze that engulfs the metropolis as colder weather sets in.

However earlier this year, the newly elected local administration approached the judicial authority to request a modification of the prohibition.

Officials advocated for allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – historically doubted by environmentalists as being only about 30% reduced emissions – as a middle ground between "heritage and ecological concerns".

Judicial Ruling and Reality

Despite concerns of environmental and health campaigners, judges agreed to the request, stipulating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be set off during designated periods throughout the Diwali.

On Monday night, there was considerable violation of the time restrictions across the capital, with insufficient monitoring regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the supposedly greener type.

Many recording stations throughout Delhi showed contamination reaching highest levels around late evening to some of the worst readings recorded during Diwali in at least recent memory.

Cross-Border Effects

Extensive ignition of firecrackers during the festival also sparked a controversy with adjacent Pakistan, with representatives in Pakistani Punjab province partly blaming declining atmospheric conditions in the city of Lahore on hazardous particles coming from India following the festivities.

Chronic Environmental Problem

Extremely elevated levels of pollution in the capital have persisted as a significant issue for fifteen-plus years, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

Around celebratory seasons, the amount of hazardous particulate matter in the air has been found to increase dramatically to significantly exceeding the peak levels ever measured in the Chinese city, which was previously viewed as the globally most contaminated city.

Multiple Contamination Factors

The situation in the city is caused by a mix of different contributors including transportation pollution, dust, building projects, rubbish burning and pollutants from crop residue ignition in adjacent regions of Punjab and Haryana.

In these regions, rural residents regularly set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, producing dangerous smog that then gets trapped over the metropolitan area as winter air sets in.

Health and Financial Impact

The economic and health impact on the nearly 33 million people residing in the metropolitan zone is substantial, according to various research.

This pollution causes high levels of nervous system, heart and circulatory and lung conditions, and can result in malignancies.

The pollution is estimated to be accounting for 10,000 premature fatalities per year in Delhi.