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As Tuesday dawned residents of the planet's dirtiest urban center were faced with exposed to severely hazardous air that was classified as the "severe" category.

Extremely High Pollution Measurements

Several parts of the capital registered an air quality index above 500, which represents 10x the safe threshold set by the World Health Organization.

Particular areas, concentrations of toxic particulate matter hit highs of 1800, representing 15 to 20 times exceeding acceptable standards.

Fireworks Restrictions and Recent Changes

For the past four years, the government had maintained a complete ban on the distribution and bursting of firecrackers during celebrations due to their major role to the deadly haze that blankets the metropolis as the cold season approaches.

Nevertheless in recent months, the current city government appealed to the supreme court to propose a relaxation of the prohibition.

Officials advocated for allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – previously doubted by conservation groups as being only about 30% less polluting – as a middle ground between "heritage and environment".

Legal Ruling and Enforcement

Much to the frustration of medical and ecological campaigners, the court agreed to the request, mandating that green firecrackers could be ignited during specific hours throughout the Diwali.

On Monday night, there was considerable flouting of the designated hours across the city, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the eco-friendly version.

Several recording stations throughout the city registered pollution peaking around late evening to the most severe measurements recorded during Diwali in at least three years.

International Effects

Extensive ignition of fireworks during the festival also initiated a dispute with adjacent the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's the Punjab region partially attributing deteriorating pollution levels in the city of Lahore on pollutants originating in neighboring India following the celebrations.

Chronic Environmental Crisis

Extremely elevated concentrations of atmospheric toxins in Delhi have continued as a significant challenge for over a decade and a half, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

During the festival period, the levels of dangerous airborne contaminants in the atmosphere has been observed to increase dramatically to seventy percent above the peak records ever measured in China's capital, which was previously considered as the world's most polluted metropolis.

Multiple Contamination Factors

This crisis in the city is caused by a convergence of multiple factors including transportation pollution, construction debris, construction activities, garbage fires and haze from crop residue ignition in neighbouring areas of neighboring agricultural zones.

Within these states, rural residents regularly ignite agricultural waste to expedite field preparation, producing dangerous haze that then gets trapped over the capital as cooler air arrives.

Health and Financial Toll

Both financial and medical consequences on the nearly 33 million people calling home the Delhi area is substantial, according to numerous investigations.

This pollution leads to high levels of nervous system, heart and circulatory and breathing conditions, and can result in malignancies.

The pollution is calculated to be causing 10,000 premature deaths each year in Delhi.