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Tuesday brought residents of this heavily contaminated metropolis were faced with breathing extremely polluted air that was classified as the "severe" category.

Alarming Air Quality Levels

Various sections of Delhi showed an air quality index over 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the safe threshold recommended by the WHO.

Particular areas, concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 reached peaks of 1800, amounting to fifteen to twenty times above healthy limits.

Pyrotechnics Ban and Recent Policy Shifts

Since 2020, authorities had implemented a complete ban on the distribution and bursting of fireworks during celebrations due to their substantial impact to the hazardous haze that covers the capital as colder weather sets in.

However earlier this year, the current city leadership appealed to the highest court to propose a relaxation of the prohibition.

Officials advocated for allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – previously criticized by environmentalists as being only about 30% reduced emissions – as a balance between "tradition and public health".

Legal Decision and Implementation

To the disappointment of environmental and health activists, judges approved the proposal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be used during designated periods throughout the festival.

During the celebrations, there was extensive flouting of the regulated periods across the metropolis, with little enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the eco-friendly type.

Many recording stations throughout the city recorded air quality spiking around late evening to the most severe measurements observed during the festival in at least recent memory.

Regional Effects

The proliferation of fireworks during Diwali also sparked a controversy with neighbouring the neighboring country, with representatives in Pakistani the Punjab region partially attributing declining air quality in the city of Lahore on hazardous particles originating in India following the events.

Long-Standing Pollution Crisis

The dangerously high readings of pollution in Delhi have persisted as a significant challenge for fifteen-plus years, with the situation showing no improvement.

Around celebratory seasons, the levels of hazardous particulate matter in the environment has been observed to shoot up to significantly exceeding the worst records ever documented in the Chinese city, which was once considered as the world's most polluted metropolis.

Various Contamination Sources

The situation in Delhi is resulting from a combination of various sources including heavy vehicle emissions, construction debris, construction activities, rubbish burning and smoke from agricultural fires in nearby areas of Punjab and Haryana.

In these regions, agricultural workers routinely burn crop residue to expedite field preparation, generating toxic haze that then gets trapped over the capital as winter air sets in.

Public Health and Economic Impact

The economic and health consequences on the approximately 33 million people calling home the Delhi area is enormous, according to numerous research.

These hazardous conditions results in elevated rates of neurological, cardiovascular and breathing disorders, and can result in oncological diseases.

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