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Tuesday brought residents of the world's most polluted city found themselves inhaling extremely polluted air that fell into the "critical" level.

Alarming Air Quality Levels

Multiple areas of the city registered an air quality index exceeding 500, which equals 10x the healthy limit recommended by the World Health Organization.

Certain monitoring stations, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of 1800, representing 15-20x higher than safe levels.

Firecracker Restrictions and New Policy Shifts

For the past four years, the government had enforced a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of fireworks during Diwali due to their significant contribution to the dangerous smog that engulfs the city as the cold season sets in.

Nevertheless recently, the recently formed regional administration petitioned the highest court to seek a modification of the ban.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – historically doubted by environmentalists as being only about 30% lower impact – as a middle ground between "cultural practices and environment".

Judicial Ruling and Reality

Despite concerns of public health and environmental activists, judges agreed to the appeal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be ignited during designated periods throughout the festival.

Throughout the festival evening, there was widespread disregard of the time restrictions across the capital, with minimal enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener version.

Several recording stations throughout the city registered pollution reaching highest levels around late evening to some of the worst readings recorded during celebrations in at least three years.

International Effects

Extensive ignition of fireworks during Diwali also sparked a blame game with bordering Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province partially attributing deteriorating atmospheric conditions in Lahore on pollutants originating in India following the festivities.

Chronic Environmental Crisis

Alarmingly severe concentrations of air contamination in the capital have continued as a major challenge for over a decade and a half, with the condition gradually deteriorating.

Around Diwali, the amount of toxic particles in the environment has been found to spike to significantly exceeding the most severe records ever recorded in China's capital, which was formerly regarded as the world's most polluted city.

Various Pollution Factors

The situation in the capital is resulting from a combination of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, construction activities, garbage fires and haze from agricultural fires in neighbouring states of neighboring agricultural zones.

In these regions, agricultural workers illegally set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, producing dangerous pollution that becomes contained over the capital as colder air arrives.

Public Health and Economic Impact

The economic and health impact on the nearly 33 million residents calling home the Delhi area is enormous, according to multiple investigations.

These hazardous conditions leads to elevated rates of neurological, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and can result in malignancies.

The pollution is calculated to be causing 10,000 early fatalities per year in the capital.