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Tuesday brought citizens of this heavily contaminated metropolis were faced with inhaling severely hazardous air that fell into the "critical" level.

Extremely High Pollution Levels

Various sections of the city showed an pollution measurement above 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the healthy limit established by the global health authority.

Certain monitoring stations, readings of dangerous airborne particles soared to of eighteen hundred, representing 15-20x above healthy limits.

Pyrotechnics Ban and Recent Policy Shifts

For the past four years, authorities had implemented a comprehensive restriction on the sale and use of pyrotechnics during Diwali due to their substantial impact to the deadly haze that engulfs the metropolis as the cold season sets in.

Yet in recent months, the recently formed regional leadership appealed to the judicial authority to seek a modification of the prohibition.

The suggestion was allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been doubted by conservation groups as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a middle ground between "heritage and environment".

Judicial Verdict and Enforcement

Much to the frustration of medical and ecological campaigners, judicial authorities agreed to the request, mandating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be set off during designated hours throughout the Diwali.

During the celebrations, there was extensive disregard of the regulated periods across the metropolis, with little regulation regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the supposedly greener type.

Many recording stations throughout Delhi registered contamination peaking around late evening to extremely hazardous levels seen during Diwali in at least three years.

Regional Implications

The widespread use of fireworks during the festival also triggered a dispute with adjacent the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistan's Punjab province pointing to worsening atmospheric conditions in the city of Lahore on hazardous particles originating in India following the events.

Persistent Environmental Problem

The dangerously high concentrations of air contamination in the capital have remained as a major problem for over a decade and a half, with the condition showing no improvement.

Around Diwali, the levels of dangerous particles in the atmosphere has been found to shoot up to seventy percent above the most severe readings ever measured in China's capital, which was previously viewed as the planet's dirtiest urban center.

Multiple Contamination Sources

The situation in Delhi is resulting from a combination of different contributors including automobile exhaust, construction debris, construction activities, waste incineration and pollutants from farm burning in neighbouring areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Throughout these areas, farmers illegally ignite agricultural waste to prepare for next season, creating dangerous haze that remains stagnant over the metropolitan area as colder air arrives.

Public Health and Economic Consequences

Public health and economic impact on the nearly 33 million residents living in the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to numerous research.

The contaminated air leads to increased incidence of neurological, heart and circulatory and respiratory conditions, and can potentially cause malignancies.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be accounting for approximately 10k early fatalities per year in the city.