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Tuesday brought inhabitants of the world's most polluted city were faced with breathing extremely polluted air that registered in the "critical" level.

Extremely High Pollution Measurements

Multiple areas of the capital registered an pollution measurement above 500, which equals a tenfold increase over the healthy limit established by the global health authority.

In some locations, readings of toxic particulate matter hit highs of 1,800, equating to fifteen to twenty times higher than safe levels.

Firecracker Ban and Current Policy Shifts

Beginning in 2020, authorities had implemented a total prohibition on the sale and use of pyrotechnics during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the hazardous smog that engulfs the city as colder weather approaches.

Nevertheless recently, the recently formed city leadership petitioned the highest court to seek a modification of the restrictions.

The suggestion was allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – historically criticized by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third lower impact – as a compromise between "tradition and public health".

Legal Decision and Enforcement

To the disappointment of environmental and health advocates, judges agreed to the request, specifying that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be used during specific periods throughout the celebrations.

Throughout the festival evening, there was extensive disregard of the regulated periods across the capital, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the eco-friendly variety.

Numerous recording stations throughout the capital showed contamination reaching highest levels around midnight to extremely hazardous measurements recorded during Diwali in at least the past three years.

Cross-Border Implications

The widespread use of pyrotechnics during the celebrations also triggered a controversy with neighbouring the neighboring country, with representatives in Pakistani Punjab province partly blaming declining pollution levels in Lahore on pollutants traveling from across the border following the celebrations.

Persistent Environmental Problem

The dangerously high concentrations of pollution in the city have continued as a major problem for over a decade and a half, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

During Diwali, the amount of dangerous particles in the atmosphere has been documented to shoot up to significantly exceeding the worst levels ever documented in Beijing, which was previously regarded as the world's most polluted urban center.

Diverse Contamination Contributors

This crisis in Delhi is caused by a convergence of different contributors including automobile exhaust, dust, building projects, waste incineration and haze from farm burning in neighbouring areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Within these states, agricultural workers illegally ignite agricultural waste to expedite field preparation, producing hazardous haze that then gets trapped over the city as winter air descends.

Medical and Economic Consequences

The economic and health consequences on the roughly thirty-three million people living in the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to various studies.

These hazardous conditions results in high levels of neurological, cardiovascular and breathing conditions, and can result in oncological diseases.

Air quality crisis is calculated to be causing 10,000 untimely mortalities each year in Delhi.