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Tuesday brought residents of this heavily contaminated metropolis were faced with inhaling dangerously toxic air that registered in the "critical" range.

Extremely High Air Quality Levels

Various sections of Delhi registered an pollution measurement exceeding 500, which translates to a tenfold increase over the healthy threshold set by the global health authority.

In some locations, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 reached peaks of 1800, equating to 15 to 20 times above safe standards.

Firecracker Restrictions and Recent Policy Shifts

For the past four years, authorities had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during celebrations due to their major role to the deadly pollution that engulfs the city as colder weather approaches.

However in recent months, the newly elected city administration appealed to the supreme court to request a modification of the restrictions.

The suggestion was allowing "green crackers" – historically criticized by environmental experts as being only about 30% lower impact – as a middle ground between "heritage and ecological concerns".

Legal Decision and Reality

To the disappointment of environmental and health campaigners, the court approved the request, mandating that green firecrackers could be set off during limited time windows throughout the festival.

During the celebrations, there was extensive disregard of the regulated periods across the city, with little regulation regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the eco-friendly variety.

Many air quality sensors throughout Delhi recorded pollution spiking around late evening to the most severe readings recorded during Diwali in at least the past three years.

Regional Effects

The proliferation of pyrotechnics during Diwali also sparked a dispute with neighbouring Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistani Punjab province partly blaming deteriorating pollution levels in the city of Lahore on pollutants originating in India following the events.

Long-Standing Environmental Issue

Extremely elevated concentrations of atmospheric toxins in the capital have persisted as a serious challenge for more than 15 years, with the problem continuing to worsen.

During celebratory seasons, the amount of dangerous airborne contaminants in the environment has been documented to shoot up to significantly exceeding the peak readings ever measured in the Chinese city, which was once regarded as the planet's dirtiest city.

Various Pollution Factors

This crisis in the city is caused by a mix of different contributors including transportation pollution, construction debris, building projects, garbage fires and haze from agricultural fires in neighbouring regions of neighboring agricultural zones.

In these regions, rural residents routinely set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, producing dangerous pollution that becomes contained over the capital as cooler air sets in.

Medical and Economic Consequences

The economic and health consequences on the approximately 33 million residents calling home the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to multiple investigations.

The contaminated air results in increased incidence of nervous system, heart and circulatory and respiratory diseases, and can even lead to malignancies.

Air quality crisis is calculated to be responsible for ten thousand untimely fatalities per year in the city.