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As Tuesday dawned citizens of the planet's dirtiest urban center were faced with exposed to severely hazardous air that registered in the "severe" level.

Alarming Pollution Measurements

Several parts of Delhi registered an AQI over 500, which equals 10x the recommended threshold recommended by the World Health Organization.

Particular areas, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 reached peaks of eighteen hundred, amounting to 15-20x higher than safe limits.

Firecracker Ban and Recent Policy Shifts

For the past four years, officials had implemented a total prohibition on the sale and use of pyrotechnics during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the deadly smog that covers the metropolis as colder weather sets in.

Nevertheless earlier this year, the current regional government appealed to the supreme court to seek a modification of the ban.

They proposed allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – previously doubted by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a middle ground between "cultural practices and public health".

Court Verdict and Implementation

To the disappointment of medical and ecological activists, judges approved the appeal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be ignited during specific periods throughout the festival.

Throughout the festival evening, there was widespread disregard of the time restrictions across the metropolis, with minimal enforcement regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the eco-friendly variety.

Several recording stations throughout the capital recorded contamination spiking around late evening to the most severe measurements observed during the festival in at least three years.

Regional Effects

Extensive ignition of firecrackers during the festival also triggered a blame game with bordering the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistan's the Punjab region partially attributing deteriorating pollution levels in Lahore on contaminants traveling from across the border following the festivities.

Long-Standing Pollution Crisis

The dangerously high concentrations of pollution in Delhi have persisted as a major problem for more than 15 years, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

During Diwali, the amount of dangerous airborne contaminants in the atmosphere has been found to increase dramatically to significantly exceeding the peak levels ever measured in Beijing, which was formerly regarded as the globally most contaminated urban center.

Various Pollution Factors

The problem in Delhi is resulting from a mix of various sources including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, construction activities, rubbish burning and pollutants from agricultural fires in adjacent states of neighboring agricultural zones.

Within these states, agricultural workers routinely set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, creating dangerous smog that then gets trapped over the capital as winter air descends.

Medical and Financial Consequences

Public health and economic toll on the nearly 33 million people calling home the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to numerous investigations.

The contaminated air results in high levels of neurological, cardiovascular and breathing disorders, and can result in cancer.

Environmental contamination is projected to be accounting for ten thousand early fatalities annually in Delhi.