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As Tuesday dawned citizens of this heavily contaminated metropolis found themselves inhaling severely hazardous air that was classified as the "critical" category.

Record-Breaking Pollution Readings

Various sections of the city registered an air quality index over 500, which represents ten times the safe level established by the global health authority.

In some locations, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 reached peaks of 1800, representing fifteen to twenty times above acceptable limits.

Pyrotechnics Ban and Current Policy Shifts

For the past four years, the government had enforced a comprehensive restriction on the purchase and ignition of pyrotechnics during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the dangerous pollution that engulfs the capital as colder weather begins.

Yet earlier this year, the recently formed local leadership petitioned the judicial authority to seek a modification of the ban.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been doubted by conservation groups as being only roughly 30 percent less polluting – as a compromise between "heritage and environment".

Legal Verdict and Reality

To the disappointment of environmental and health advocates, the court complied with the appeal, stipulating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be used during limited hours throughout the festival.

During the celebrations, there was widespread disregard of the time restrictions across the capital, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the more environmentally friendly type.

Numerous monitoring devices throughout Delhi registered air quality reaching highest levels around midnight to extremely hazardous levels seen during the festival in at least recent memory.

Cross-Border Effects

The widespread use of pyrotechnics during Diwali also sparked a dispute with neighbouring the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistani Punjab pointing to worsening pollution levels in their urban centers on pollutants originating in across the border following the events.

Chronic Environmental Problem

Alarmingly severe readings of pollution in Delhi have remained as a significant problem for fifteen-plus years, with the condition gradually deteriorating.

During the festival period, the levels of toxic airborne contaminants in the atmosphere has been found to shoot up to seventy percent above the worst records ever measured in Beijing, which was once regarded as the globally most contaminated metropolis.

Diverse Contamination Sources

The problem in the city is resulting from a mix of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, development work, waste incineration and pollutants from agricultural fires in nearby regions of neighboring agricultural zones.

Within these states, rural residents routinely set their fields on fire to prepare for next season, producing toxic pollution that becomes contained over the metropolitan area as cooler air sets in.

Medical and Economic Consequences

The economic and health toll on the nearly 33 million inhabitants residing in the Delhi area is substantial, according to various research.

The contaminated air causes high levels of neurological, cardiovascular and breathing diseases, and can potentially cause malignancies.

The pollution is projected to be causing 10,000 early fatalities each year in the capital.