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As Tuesday dawned residents of this heavily contaminated metropolis encountered inhaling dangerously toxic air that was classified as the "severe" level.

Record-Breaking Air Quality Measurements

Multiple areas of Delhi registered an pollution measurement over 500, which represents ten times the healthy level established by the World Health Organization.

In some locations, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 hit highs of 1,800, amounting to 15 to 20 times above acceptable standards.

Pyrotechnics Prohibition and Recent Changes

For the past four years, the government had maintained a total prohibition on the sale and use of firecrackers during celebrations due to their major role to the dangerous haze that covers the metropolis as winter sets in.

Yet recently, the newly elected city administration approached the judicial authority to request a relaxation of the ban.

The suggestion was allowing "green crackers" – historically questioned by environmentalists as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a middle ground between "cultural practices and ecological concerns".

Legal Decision and Implementation

Much to the frustration of public health and environmental advocates, judicial authorities approved the appeal, stipulating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be set off during designated time windows throughout the festival.

On Monday night, there was widespread violation of the regulated periods across the metropolis, with little enforcement regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the supposedly greener type.

Many monitoring devices throughout the city recorded air quality reaching highest levels around late evening to the most severe levels seen during celebrations in at least recent memory.

Cross-Border Implications

The widespread use of firecrackers during Diwali also triggered a controversy with neighbouring the neighboring country, with representatives in Pakistan's the Punjab region partly blaming declining pollution levels in the city of Lahore on hazardous particles traveling from neighboring India following the festivities.

Long-Standing Environmental Problem

The dangerously high levels of atmospheric toxins in Delhi have persisted as a major issue for fifteen-plus years, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

Around Diwali, the amount of toxic particulate matter in the atmosphere has been found to spike to significantly exceeding the peak readings ever recorded in China's capital, which was formerly considered as the planet's dirtiest metropolis.

Diverse Contamination Sources

The situation in the capital is caused by a convergence of various sources including heavy vehicle emissions, dust, development work, rubbish burning and pollutants from agricultural fires in nearby regions of farming communities.

Throughout these areas, farmers regularly ignite agricultural waste to expedite field preparation, creating toxic smog that becomes contained over the metropolitan area as winter air arrives.

Public Health and Economic Toll

Public health and economic consequences on the nearly 33 million people residing in the Delhi area is enormous, according to various investigations.

This pollution causes increased incidence of neurological, heart and circulatory and lung diseases, and can even lead to malignancies.

The pollution is projected to be responsible for ten thousand early mortalities per year in Delhi.