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As Tuesday dawned citizens of this heavily contaminated metropolis found themselves exposed to severely hazardous air that registered in the "severe" range.

Alarming Air Quality Measurements

Several parts of the city registered an pollution measurement exceeding 500, which equals 10x the recommended limit established by the WHO.

Certain monitoring stations, readings of toxic particulate matter soared to of 1800, representing 15-20x above healthy standards.

Firecracker Ban and Recent Developments

For the past four years, the government had maintained a complete ban on the sale and use of firecrackers during celebrations due to their significant contribution to the hazardous smog that covers the capital as the cold season sets in.

Nevertheless recently, the current city leadership appealed to the highest court to propose a modification of the restrictions.

Officials advocated for allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – historically criticized by environmentalists as being only approximately one-third lower impact – as a compromise between "heritage and environment".

Court Decision and Enforcement

Much to the frustration of environmental and health advocates, judges agreed to the request, stipulating that green firecrackers could be used during limited periods throughout the festival.

Throughout the festival evening, there was widespread disregard of the time restrictions across the city, with little enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the eco-friendly type.

Several recording stations throughout Delhi registered contamination reaching highest levels around the night hours to the most severe measurements recorded during the festival in at least recent memory.

International Effects

Extensive ignition of firecrackers during the celebrations also sparked a dispute with neighbouring Pakistan, with officials in Pakistan's the Punjab region partly blaming declining air quality in their urban centers on hazardous particles originating in India following the events.

Long-Standing Pollution Issue

The dangerously high concentrations of air contamination in Delhi have continued as a major issue for over a decade and a half, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Around the festival period, the amount of dangerous particulate matter in the atmosphere has been found to increase dramatically to seventy percent above the peak records ever recorded in Beijing, which was formerly viewed as the world's most polluted metropolis.

Various Pollution Sources

This crisis in the city is caused by a combination of various sources including transportation pollution, airborne particles, development work, waste incineration and smoke from crop residue ignition in adjacent areas of Punjab and Haryana.

In these regions, agricultural workers routinely set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, generating dangerous haze that becomes contained over the city as winter air sets in.

Health and Financial Consequences

Both financial and medical consequences on the approximately 33 million people living in the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to various research.

This pollution leads to high levels of nervous system, heart and circulatory and respiratory diseases, and can even lead to cancer.

Air quality crisis is calculated to be accounting for approximately 10k early mortalities each year in the city.