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On Tuesday morning citizens of this heavily contaminated metropolis found themselves exposed to severely hazardous air that was classified as the "severe" category.

Alarming Air Quality Levels

Multiple areas of Delhi registered an AQI exceeding 500, which translates to 10x the healthy threshold set by the global health authority.

Certain monitoring stations, levels of toxic particulate matter reached peaks of 1800, amounting to 15 to 20 times higher than safe levels.

Fireworks Ban and Recent Policy Shifts

For the past four years, officials had maintained a complete ban on the purchase and ignition of fireworks during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the deadly haze that covers the city as colder weather begins.

Nevertheless in recent months, the newly elected regional administration petitioned the highest court to propose a easing of the restrictions.

Officials advocated for allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – which have been criticized by conservation groups as being only approximately one-third reduced emissions – as a balance between "cultural practices and ecological concerns".

Judicial Decision and Enforcement

To the disappointment of environmental and health campaigners, judicial authorities complied with the proposal, stipulating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be used during designated hours throughout the festival.

During the celebrations, there was extensive disregard of the designated hours across the metropolis, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the eco-friendly version.

Several monitoring devices throughout Delhi recorded contamination reaching highest levels around the night hours to extremely hazardous levels seen during celebrations in at least the past three years.

Regional Effects

Extensive ignition of fireworks during the celebrations also sparked a blame game with bordering Pakistan, with officials in Pakistani the Punjab region partially attributing worsening atmospheric conditions in Lahore on pollutants originating in across the border following the celebrations.

Persistent Environmental Crisis

Extremely elevated concentrations of pollution in the city have remained as a major challenge for more than 15 years, with the condition showing no improvement.

During Diwali, the levels of toxic particulate matter in the air has been documented to spike to 70% higher the worst levels ever measured in the Chinese city, which was formerly viewed as the globally most contaminated city.

Various Contamination Sources

This crisis in the city is resulting from a convergence of various sources including transportation pollution, dust, development work, waste incineration and haze from farm burning in adjacent areas of farming communities.

Throughout these areas, farmers illegally set their fields on fire to clear them quickly, creating toxic pollution that remains stagnant over the city as cooler air descends.

Public Health and Financial Impact

Both financial and medical toll on the nearly 33 million residents calling home the metropolitan zone is significant, according to numerous research.

These hazardous conditions leads to high levels of neurological, heart and circulatory and lung disorders, and can potentially cause malignancies.

The pollution is projected to be responsible for approximately 10k early fatalities annually in Delhi.