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As Tuesday dawned residents of the world's most polluted city found themselves breathing severely hazardous air that registered in the "critical" range.

Record-Breaking Air Quality Readings

Multiple areas of the city showed an AQI above 500, which equals a tenfold increase over the safe threshold set by the WHO.

In some locations, readings of toxic particulate matter reached peaks of 1,800, amounting to 15 to 20 times above acceptable levels.

Fireworks Prohibition and New Developments

Since 2020, officials had implemented a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the hazardous smog that covers the metropolis as winter begins.

Nevertheless earlier this year, the newly elected regional government approached the supreme court to request a relaxation of the prohibition.

The suggestion was allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – historically doubted by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a middle ground between "cultural practices and ecological concerns".

Court Verdict and Reality

To the disappointment of public health and environmental activists, judges complied with the request, specifying that environmentally conscious fireworks could be ignited during specific periods throughout the festival.

Throughout the festival evening, there was considerable disregard of the designated hours across the capital, with insufficient monitoring regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the more environmentally friendly variety.

Numerous monitoring devices throughout the city registered pollution peaking around late evening to the most severe measurements observed during Diwali in at least the past three years.

Regional Consequences

The proliferation of pyrotechnics during Diwali also sparked a controversy with adjacent Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab partially attributing declining pollution levels in Lahore on pollutants traveling from neighboring India following the festivities.

Chronic Environmental Crisis

The dangerously high levels of pollution in the capital have remained as a major challenge for fifteen-plus years, with the problem showing no improvement.

Near the festival period, the levels of dangerous particulate matter in the air has been documented to shoot up to 70% higher the worst readings ever measured in Beijing, which was previously considered as the globally most contaminated metropolis.

Diverse Contamination Contributors

This crisis in the city is resulting from a mix of various sources including automobile exhaust, dust, construction activities, waste incineration and smoke from agricultural fires in neighbouring areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Throughout these areas, farmers illegally ignite agricultural waste to prepare for next season, producing hazardous haze that remains stagnant over the metropolitan area as colder air sets in.

Medical and Economic Toll

Both financial and medical impact on the roughly thirty-three million inhabitants residing in the capital region is significant, according to multiple studies.

This pollution leads to high levels of neurological, heart and circulatory and lung disorders, and can potentially cause cancer.

The pollution is calculated to be causing approximately 10k untimely mortalities annually in the city.