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On Tuesday morning citizens of the planet's dirtiest urban center found themselves inhaling dangerously toxic air that fell into the "severe" level.

Record-Breaking Air Quality Levels

Several parts of Delhi showed an pollution measurement over 500, which translates to a tenfold increase over the healthy limit set by the WHO.

Certain monitoring stations, readings of toxic particulate matter reached peaks of eighteen hundred, equating to fifteen to twenty times above healthy standards.

Firecracker Restrictions and Current Developments

Beginning in 2020, authorities had enforced a comprehensive restriction on the sale and use of fireworks during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the dangerous smog that engulfs the metropolis as the cold season sets in.

However recently, the current local leadership petitioned the highest court to seek a modification of the prohibition.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – historically criticized by environmentalists as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a compromise between "tradition and ecological concerns".

Legal Decision and Implementation

To the disappointment of public health and environmental campaigners, judicial authorities approved the appeal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be ignited during specific hours throughout the festival.

During the celebrations, there was widespread violation of the regulated periods across the capital, with little enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the eco-friendly version.

Several monitoring devices throughout the city recorded contamination spiking around midnight to extremely hazardous readings seen during celebrations in at least three years.

International Consequences

Extensive ignition of pyrotechnics during the festival also sparked a dispute with neighbouring Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab partially attributing deteriorating air quality in the city of Lahore on pollutants coming from India following the events.

Long-Standing Pollution Issue

Extremely elevated readings of atmospheric toxins in the capital have continued as a serious issue for fifteen-plus years, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Near the festival period, the levels of hazardous particulate matter in the atmosphere has been documented to shoot up to 70% higher the peak levels ever measured in Beijing, which was previously considered as the world's most polluted metropolis.

Multiple Pollution Contributors

The problem in the capital is attributed to a mix of different contributors including transportation pollution, dust, construction activities, rubbish burning and haze from agricultural fires in nearby states of neighboring agricultural zones.

Throughout these areas, agricultural workers regularly set their fields on fire to prepare for next season, producing dangerous haze that becomes contained over the capital as colder air descends.

Health and Financial Consequences

The economic and health consequences on the roughly thirty-three million residents residing in the metropolitan zone is significant, according to various studies.

This pollution causes elevated rates of neurological, heart and circulatory and lung disorders, and can even lead to cancer.

Air quality crisis is calculated to be causing approximately 10k early mortalities annually in the city.