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On Tuesday morning residents of the planet's dirtiest urban center found themselves exposed to extremely polluted air that fell into the "severe" category.

Alarming Air Quality Readings

Several parts of the city registered an air quality index exceeding 500, which equals a tenfold increase over the safe limit established by the WHO.

In some locations, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of 1800, representing 15-20x above acceptable limits.

Firecracker Prohibition and Current Developments

For the past four years, the government had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during Diwali due to their major role to the dangerous smog that blankets the city as the cold season approaches.

Yet earlier this year, the newly elected local government approached the supreme court to request a easing of the prohibition.

The suggestion was allowing "green crackers" – which have been doubted by conservation groups as being only roughly 30 percent less polluting – as a balance between "cultural practices and ecological concerns".

Court Decision and Reality

Much to the frustration of medical and ecological activists, judges complied with the request, stipulating that green firecrackers could be ignited during designated hours throughout the Diwali.

Throughout the festival evening, there was extensive flouting of the regulated periods across the metropolis, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener version.

Many monitoring devices throughout the city showed pollution peaking around late evening to the most severe levels observed during Diwali in at least recent memory.

International Consequences

The widespread use of fireworks during the celebrations also triggered a dispute with adjacent Pakistan, with representatives in Pakistani the Punjab region partially attributing declining air quality in Lahore on contaminants originating in India following the celebrations.

Long-Standing Pollution Problem

The dangerously high concentrations of air contamination in the capital have persisted as a significant challenge for more than 15 years, with the condition showing no improvement.

During the festival period, the levels of dangerous particles in the atmosphere has been found to shoot up to 70% higher the most severe records ever recorded in China's capital, which was previously viewed as the globally most contaminated city.

Various Pollution Sources

The situation in Delhi is attributed to a combination of different contributors including heavy vehicle emissions, construction debris, development work, garbage fires and haze from agricultural fires in adjacent areas of neighboring agricultural zones.

In these regions, agricultural workers illegally burn crop residue to prepare for next season, creating dangerous haze that then gets trapped over the metropolitan area as colder air arrives.

Public Health and Economic Consequences

The economic and health toll on the approximately 33 million residents living in the metropolitan zone is significant, according to various research.

This pollution causes high levels of nervous system, heart and circulatory and respiratory conditions, and can even lead to oncological diseases.

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