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On Tuesday morning residents of the world's most polluted city were faced with breathing dangerously toxic air that was classified as the "severe" range.

Alarming Air Quality Levels

Several parts of Delhi registered an air quality index above 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the safe limit set by the World Health Organization.

In some locations, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles hit highs of eighteen hundred, amounting to 15-20x above acceptable levels.

Fireworks Prohibition and Recent Changes

For the past four years, authorities had implemented a complete ban on the sale and use of pyrotechnics during celebrations due to their substantial impact to the deadly smog that engulfs the capital as winter approaches.

However recently, the current local government approached the judicial authority to propose a modification of the ban.

Officials advocated for allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – historically questioned by conservation groups as being only roughly 30 percent reduced emissions – as a compromise between "heritage and public health".

Court Verdict and Implementation

To the disappointment of environmental and health campaigners, judges approved the appeal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be used during designated time windows throughout the festival.

During the celebrations, there was widespread flouting of the time restrictions across the city, with little enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the eco-friendly variety.

Several monitoring devices throughout Delhi recorded pollution reaching highest levels around late evening to the most severe levels observed during celebrations in at least three years.

International Consequences

The proliferation of pyrotechnics during Diwali also initiated a dispute with neighbouring the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's the Punjab region pointing to declining pollution levels in the city of Lahore on hazardous particles originating in across the border following the festivities.

Persistent Environmental Issue

The dangerously high concentrations of atmospheric toxins in Delhi have persisted as a serious issue for more than 15 years, with the problem continuing to worsen.

Around the festival period, the concentration of dangerous particles in the air has been observed to spike to 70% higher the worst readings ever recorded in the Chinese city, which was once viewed as the world's most polluted metropolis.

Various Contamination Contributors

The problem in Delhi is caused by a mix of different contributors including transportation pollution, dust, building projects, garbage fires and haze from crop residue ignition in adjacent areas of farming communities.

Within these states, rural residents regularly ignite agricultural waste to expedite field preparation, producing dangerous haze that then gets trapped over the capital as cooler air descends.

Health and Economic Toll

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

The contaminated air results in high levels of neurological, heart and circulatory and breathing conditions, and can potentially cause malignancies.

The pollution is calculated to be causing 10,000 early deaths per year in Delhi.