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

Alarming Air Quality Measurements

Several parts of Delhi recorded an pollution measurement above 500, which translates to 10x the recommended threshold recommended by the World Health Organization.

Certain monitoring stations, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 soared to of eighteen hundred, equating to fifteen to twenty times above healthy levels.

Pyrotechnics Restrictions and Recent Changes

For the past four years, officials had maintained a complete ban on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the deadly haze that covers the city as winter sets in.

Nevertheless recently, the newly elected regional leadership appealed to the judicial authority to request a relaxation of the restrictions.

Officials advocated for allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – which have been doubted by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third reduced emissions – as a middle ground between "cultural practices and public health".

Legal Ruling and Enforcement

Despite concerns of environmental and health activists, judges complied with the request, specifying that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be used during designated hours throughout the festival.

On Monday night, there was considerable flouting of the time restrictions across the city, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the more environmentally friendly version.

Several recording stations throughout the capital showed air quality spiking around midnight to the most severe measurements seen during celebrations in at least the past three years.

International Effects

Extensive ignition of firecrackers during the festival also initiated a blame game with neighbouring the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistani the Punjab region partly blaming worsening pollution levels in Lahore on pollutants originating in India following the festivities.

Persistent Environmental Problem

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

During Diwali, the amount of hazardous particles in the air has been documented to spike to significantly exceeding the most severe readings ever measured in Beijing, which was formerly regarded as the world's most polluted urban center.

Diverse Pollution Factors

This crisis in the city is caused by a convergence of various sources including transportation pollution, construction debris, building projects, waste incineration and smoke from agricultural fires in nearby states of farming communities.

In these regions, agricultural workers illegally set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, generating hazardous smog that then gets trapped over the capital as cooler air descends.

Public Health and Economic Impact

Both financial and medical consequences on the roughly thirty-three million residents calling home the capital region is enormous, according to various investigations.

This pollution results in high levels of neurological, cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, and can potentially cause malignancies.

The pollution is calculated to be accounting for 10,000 early fatalities per year in the city.