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As Tuesday dawned residents of the world's most polluted city were faced with inhaling dangerously toxic air that registered in the "severe" level.

Extremely High Pollution Measurements

Various sections of Delhi recorded an air quality index above 500, which translates to 10x the healthy level set by the World Health Organization.

Certain monitoring stations, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of eighteen hundred, equating to fifteen to twenty times above healthy limits.

Pyrotechnics Ban and New Changes

For the past four years, officials had maintained a total prohibition on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during celebrations due to their substantial impact to the dangerous smog that engulfs the metropolis as colder weather approaches.

Yet in recent months, the current regional administration approached the highest court to propose a modification of the prohibition.

The suggestion was allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – previously criticized by environmentalists as being only about 30% lower impact – as a middle ground between "cultural practices and ecological concerns".

Legal Ruling and Reality

Despite concerns of environmental and health campaigners, the court agreed to the proposal, stipulating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be set off during designated time windows throughout the festival.

On Monday night, there was extensive disregard of the designated hours across the capital, with insufficient monitoring regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the more environmentally friendly version.

Several monitoring devices throughout the city recorded air quality reaching highest levels around the night hours to extremely hazardous measurements recorded during the festival in at least three years.

Cross-Border Implications

The widespread use of firecrackers during the celebrations also initiated a controversy with neighbouring Pakistan, with officials in Pakistan's Punjab partially attributing declining air quality in the city of Lahore on pollutants originating in neighboring India following the celebrations.

Persistent Pollution Issue

The dangerously high readings of pollution in Delhi have continued as a serious challenge for fifteen-plus years, with the problem continuing to worsen.

Around celebratory seasons, the amount of hazardous airborne contaminants in the atmosphere has been observed to spike to 70% higher the most severe records ever recorded in Beijing, which was formerly regarded as the globally most contaminated city.

Multiple Contamination Sources

The problem in Delhi is attributed to a combination of various sources including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, construction activities, garbage fires and smoke from agricultural fires in nearby regions of farming communities.

In these regions, rural residents regularly set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, producing hazardous pollution that then gets trapped over the capital as cooler air descends.

Medical and Financial Consequences

Public health and economic impact on the nearly 33 million people calling home the capital region is substantial, according to numerous investigations.

This pollution results in increased incidence of neurological, heart and circulatory and respiratory disorders, and can even lead to malignancies.

The pollution is estimated to be causing 10,000 early deaths per year in the city.