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On Tuesday morning residents of this heavily contaminated metropolis were faced with inhaling severely hazardous air that fell into the "critical" range.

Record-Breaking Pollution Measurements

Several parts of the capital recorded an AQI exceeding 500, which translates to ten times the healthy limit established by the WHO.

Certain monitoring stations, levels of dangerous airborne particles hit highs of eighteen hundred, equating to 15-20x above safe standards.

Pyrotechnics Ban and New Developments

Beginning in 2020, authorities had implemented a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of firecrackers during the Festival of Lights due to their significant contribution to the hazardous smog that covers the capital as winter sets in.

However earlier this year, the newly elected local leadership approached the highest court to propose a relaxation of the ban.

They proposed allowing "green crackers" – historically doubted by conservation groups as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a compromise between "cultural practices and public health".

Legal Ruling and Reality

To the disappointment of medical and ecological activists, judges agreed to the request, stipulating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be set off during specific hours throughout the Diwali.

During the celebrations, there was widespread disregard of the time restrictions across the metropolis, with minimal monitoring regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the supposedly greener type.

Many monitoring devices throughout the city recorded air quality spiking around the night hours to extremely hazardous readings recorded during Diwali in at least the past three years.

Regional Effects

The proliferation of firecrackers during the festival also sparked a blame game with bordering Pakistan, with representatives in Pakistani Punjab province partially attributing declining pollution levels in the city of Lahore on pollutants traveling from India following the events.

Persistent Pollution Crisis

The dangerously high readings of pollution in Delhi have continued as a serious issue for more than 15 years, with the situation continuing to worsen.

Near Diwali, the amount of hazardous particles in the air has been documented to spike to significantly exceeding the most severe records ever measured in Beijing, which was previously viewed as the world's most polluted metropolis.

Multiple Contamination Sources

The problem in Delhi is resulting from a mix of multiple factors including transportation pollution, dust, building projects, rubbish burning and haze from farm burning in nearby regions of neighboring agricultural zones.

Throughout these areas, agricultural workers routinely burn crop residue to prepare for next season, creating toxic haze that remains stagnant over the city as colder air arrives.

Health and Financial Impact

Both financial and medical toll on the roughly thirty-three million inhabitants residing in the Delhi area is significant, according to numerous studies.

This pollution leads to elevated rates of neurological, heart and circulatory and respiratory disorders, and can result in malignancies.

Air quality crisis is projected to be causing approximately 10k premature mortalities per year in the city.