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Tuesday brought residents of this heavily contaminated metropolis encountered breathing severely hazardous air that registered in the "alarming" category.

Alarming Air Quality Measurements

Various sections of the capital registered an AQI exceeding 500, which represents 10x the healthy level set by the WHO.

Certain monitoring stations, readings of PM2.5 and PM10 hit highs of 1,800, representing fifteen to twenty times higher than healthy levels.

Fireworks Prohibition and New Developments

For the past four years, authorities had implemented a complete ban on the sale and use of fireworks during Diwali due to their substantial impact to the deadly smog that covers the metropolis as winter sets in.

However in recent months, the recently formed regional government appealed to the highest court to seek a easing of the restrictions.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been doubted by environmentalists as being only roughly 30 percent less polluting – as a middle ground between "tradition and public health".

Court Ruling and Reality

Despite concerns of medical and ecological activists, judges approved the request, stipulating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be used during designated time windows throughout the Diwali.

During the celebrations, there was widespread flouting of the regulated periods across the metropolis, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the eco-friendly version.

Numerous recording stations throughout the city showed air quality reaching highest levels around late evening to the most severe measurements observed during celebrations in at least the past three years.

Cross-Border Implications

Extensive ignition of firecrackers during Diwali also sparked a dispute with neighbouring the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistan's Punjab province partially attributing worsening pollution levels in the city of Lahore on contaminants traveling from India following the celebrations.

Long-Standing Pollution Crisis

The dangerously high concentrations of pollution in Delhi have continued as a serious issue for more than 15 years, with the situation continuing to worsen.

During celebratory seasons, the concentration of toxic particles in the environment has been documented to spike to significantly exceeding the peak records ever recorded in China's capital, which was formerly regarded as the globally most contaminated city.

Multiple Contamination Sources

This crisis in the city is caused by a combination of different contributors including automobile exhaust, construction debris, construction activities, waste incineration and pollutants from crop residue ignition in nearby areas of farming communities.

Within these states, agricultural workers illegally ignite agricultural waste to expedite field preparation, producing dangerous smog that remains stagnant over the metropolitan area as winter air arrives.

Health and Economic Toll

Public health and economic consequences on the approximately 33 million people calling home the capital region is enormous, according to numerous research.

The contaminated air results in increased incidence of neurological, heart and circulatory and lung diseases, and can result in oncological diseases.

Environmental contamination is projected to be causing 10,000 premature deaths annually in Delhi.