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Tuesday brought inhabitants of the planet's dirtiest urban center were faced with breathing extremely polluted air that was classified as the "alarming" category.

Alarming Pollution Readings

Multiple areas of the city recorded an air quality index exceeding 500, which represents 10x the recommended limit set by the global health authority.

Particular areas, levels of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of eighteen hundred, amounting to 15-20x above acceptable standards.

Firecracker Prohibition and Current Policy Shifts

For the past four years, officials had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during Diwali due to their major role to the deadly haze that engulfs the metropolis as the cold season approaches.

Yet earlier this year, the newly elected city government approached the judicial authority to seek a modification of the prohibition.

Officials advocated for allowing "green crackers" – historically doubted by environmental experts as being only roughly 30 percent reduced emissions – as a compromise between "cultural practices and ecological concerns".

Legal Ruling and Enforcement

Despite concerns of medical and ecological activists, the court complied with the proposal, specifying that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be used during limited periods throughout the festival.

Throughout the festival evening, there was extensive violation of the regulated periods across the city, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the more environmentally friendly version.

Several recording stations throughout the city registered pollution spiking around the night hours to the most severe readings recorded during the festival in at least three years.

Regional Effects

Extensive ignition of fireworks during Diwali also sparked a dispute with bordering Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistani the Punjab region partially attributing deteriorating atmospheric conditions in their urban centers on pollutants traveling from across the border following the celebrations.

Persistent Pollution Issue

Extremely elevated concentrations of air contamination in the city have remained as a significant problem for over a decade and a half, with the condition showing no improvement.

Around the festival period, the levels of toxic airborne contaminants in the air has been documented to spike to 70% higher the most severe records ever recorded in the Chinese city, which was once regarded as the globally most contaminated urban center.

Various Pollution Sources

This crisis in Delhi is caused by a convergence of multiple factors including transportation pollution, construction debris, construction activities, rubbish burning and haze from agricultural fires in neighbouring regions of farming communities.

Throughout these areas, rural residents regularly ignite agricultural waste to prepare for next season, creating hazardous haze that remains stagnant over the metropolitan area as cooler air descends.

Health and Financial Toll

Both financial and medical impact on the nearly 33 million inhabitants calling home the Delhi area is enormous, according to multiple studies.

The contaminated air results in high levels of nervous system, heart and circulatory and respiratory diseases, and can potentially cause oncological diseases.

Air quality crisis is projected to be causing approximately 10k early fatalities per year in the capital.