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On Tuesday morning residents of the world's most polluted city were faced with inhaling severely hazardous air that fell into the "critical" category.

Extremely High Air Quality Measurements

Several parts of the capital showed an AQI over 500, which translates to a tenfold increase over the safe limit recommended by the global health authority.

In some locations, levels of dangerous airborne particles hit highs of eighteen hundred, amounting to fifteen to twenty times higher than healthy limits.

Firecracker Ban and Recent Changes

For the past four years, officials had enforced a complete ban on the sale and use of fireworks during Diwali due to their major role to the dangerous smog that engulfs the city as colder weather begins.

However recently, the newly elected local leadership petitioned the judicial authority to seek a modification of the ban.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – previously questioned by conservation groups as being only roughly 30 percent reduced emissions – as a balance between "cultural practices and public health".

Court Decision and Reality

Much to the frustration of environmental and health activists, judicial authorities approved the appeal, mandating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be set off during designated periods throughout the festival.

Throughout the festival evening, there was extensive disregard of the time restrictions across the capital, with insufficient monitoring regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the supposedly greener variety.

Numerous recording stations throughout the city showed contamination reaching highest levels around midnight to extremely hazardous levels seen during celebrations in at least the past three years.

Cross-Border Implications

Extensive ignition of pyrotechnics during the festival also sparked a dispute with adjacent the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistan's Punjab pointing to worsening pollution levels in Lahore on hazardous particles originating in across the border following the celebrations.

Persistent Environmental Issue

Alarmingly severe readings of pollution in the capital have remained as a major problem for more than 15 years, with the condition continuing to worsen.

During Diwali, the levels of toxic particles in the environment has been found to shoot up to seventy percent above the peak records ever recorded in Beijing, which was previously considered as the globally most contaminated city.

Diverse Contamination Contributors

The situation in Delhi is resulting from a combination of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, dust, development work, garbage fires and smoke from crop residue ignition in nearby areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Within these states, rural residents illegally burn crop residue to expedite field preparation, generating hazardous smog that then gets trapped over the metropolitan area as colder air descends.

Public Health and Financial Impact

The economic and health consequences on the roughly thirty-three million inhabitants calling home the capital region is significant, according to numerous research.

This pollution leads to elevated rates of nervous system, heart and circulatory and lung disorders, and can even lead to malignancies.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be accounting for 10,000 premature deaths annually in the city.