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On Tuesday morning citizens of this heavily contaminated metropolis were faced with inhaling dangerously toxic air that registered in the "severe" level.

Alarming Air Quality Measurements

Multiple areas of Delhi recorded an AQI above 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the recommended threshold established by the WHO.

Certain monitoring stations, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles soared to of eighteen hundred, representing 15-20x higher than acceptable limits.

Firecracker Prohibition and Current Changes

For the past four years, the government had maintained a total prohibition on the sale and use of firecrackers during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the hazardous pollution that blankets the metropolis as winter begins.

Nevertheless recently, the current regional government appealed to the highest court to propose a relaxation of the restrictions.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been doubted by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a middle ground between "heritage and environment".

Judicial Ruling and Enforcement

Despite concerns of environmental and health campaigners, the court complied with the appeal, stipulating that green firecrackers could be set off during specific hours throughout the celebrations.

During the celebrations, there was widespread violation of the regulated periods across the city, with little enforcement regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the more environmentally friendly version.

Several air quality sensors throughout the capital recorded contamination reaching highest levels around the night hours to some of the worst levels observed during Diwali in at least recent memory.

International Implications

Extensive ignition of firecrackers during the festival also initiated a dispute with neighbouring the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab pointing to worsening air quality in their urban centers on pollutants traveling from India following the celebrations.

Long-Standing Environmental Issue

Extremely elevated levels of pollution in the city have remained as a significant issue for fifteen-plus years, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

During the festival period, the concentration of hazardous particles in the atmosphere has been found to shoot up to seventy percent above the peak levels ever recorded in Beijing, which was previously viewed as the world's most polluted urban center.

Various Pollution Contributors

This crisis in the city is caused by a convergence of various sources including heavy vehicle emissions, airborne particles, development work, rubbish burning and smoke from agricultural fires in adjacent areas of neighboring agricultural zones.

Within these states, rural residents regularly burn crop residue to clear them quickly, creating toxic smog that remains stagnant over the city as colder air arrives.

Medical and Financial Impact

Public health and economic impact on the nearly 33 million people living in the Delhi area is substantial, according to multiple studies.

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

Environmental contamination is calculated to be accounting for 10,000 premature mortalities per year in the city.