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As Tuesday dawned inhabitants of the world's most polluted city were faced with exposed to extremely polluted air that was classified as the "alarming" range.

Extremely High Pollution Readings

Various sections of the capital recorded an pollution measurement exceeding 500, which represents ten times the safe threshold recommended by the World Health Organization.

In some locations, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of eighteen hundred, amounting to 15 to 20 times above acceptable standards.

Fireworks Restrictions and Current Developments

For the past four years, authorities had implemented a complete ban on the distribution and bursting of firecrackers during Diwali due to their substantial impact to the deadly pollution that engulfs the metropolis as winter sets in.

However in recent months, the current regional government petitioned the judicial authority to propose a modification of the restrictions.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – historically questioned by environmental experts as being only about 30% less polluting – as a balance between "heritage and public health".

Legal Verdict and Reality

To the disappointment of public health and environmental activists, the court complied with the proposal, stipulating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be set off during designated time windows throughout the Diwali.

During the celebrations, there was extensive flouting of the time restrictions across the capital, with insufficient monitoring regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the eco-friendly type.

Numerous recording stations throughout Delhi showed air quality reaching highest levels around late evening to extremely hazardous readings recorded during celebrations in at least three years.

Regional Effects

The proliferation of fireworks during the festival also sparked a controversy with bordering the neighboring country, with representatives in Pakistan's the Punjab region pointing to deteriorating atmospheric conditions in Lahore on pollutants coming from India following the celebrations.

Long-Standing Environmental Issue

Extremely elevated levels of air contamination in the capital have persisted as a significant issue for fifteen-plus years, with the condition continuing to worsen.

Around Diwali, the levels of hazardous particulate matter in the environment has been documented to shoot up to seventy percent above the worst records ever recorded in China's capital, which was formerly regarded as the planet's dirtiest city.

Multiple Contamination Contributors

The situation in the city is attributed to a convergence of various sources including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, building projects, garbage fires and smoke from farm burning in nearby areas of neighboring agricultural zones.

Throughout these areas, farmers regularly set their fields on fire to prepare for next season, generating dangerous haze that then gets trapped over the metropolitan area as colder air arrives.

Public Health and Financial Toll

The economic and health impact on the nearly 33 million residents residing in the capital region is significant, according to multiple studies.

This pollution leads to increased incidence of nervous system, heart and circulatory and lung diseases, and can result in malignancies.

Air quality crisis is calculated to be accounting for 10,000 premature deaths annually in Delhi.