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On Tuesday morning inhabitants of this heavily contaminated metropolis were faced with breathing severely hazardous air that was classified as the "critical" category.

Alarming Pollution Measurements

Multiple areas of the city registered an air quality index exceeding 500, which equals ten times the safe threshold established by the World Health Organization.

Particular areas, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 hit highs of 1800, equating to 15-20x higher than safe standards.

Fireworks Restrictions and Recent Policy Shifts

For the past four years, officials had implemented a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of fireworks during Diwali due to their significant contribution to the dangerous smog that engulfs the metropolis as winter begins.

Nevertheless earlier this year, the newly elected regional government petitioned the highest court to propose a relaxation of the restrictions.

They proposed allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – which have been doubted by conservation groups as being only roughly 30 percent less polluting – as a middle ground between "tradition and environment".

Court Verdict and Implementation

Despite concerns of public health and environmental advocates, judicial authorities agreed to the appeal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be ignited during designated time windows throughout the celebrations.

On Monday night, there was widespread violation of the regulated periods across the capital, with minimal monitoring regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener version.

Many recording stations throughout Delhi registered air quality spiking around the night hours to the most severe levels observed during celebrations in at least recent memory.

Cross-Border Implications

Extensive ignition of pyrotechnics during the celebrations also sparked a dispute with bordering the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistan's the Punjab region partially attributing deteriorating air quality in their urban centers on hazardous particles coming from across the border following the celebrations.

Persistent Pollution Issue

Alarmingly severe concentrations of atmospheric toxins in the city have remained as a major problem for over a decade and a half, with the situation continuing to worsen.

Around Diwali, the levels of toxic airborne contaminants in the atmosphere has been documented to shoot up to seventy percent above the peak readings ever documented in the Chinese city, which was once considered as the globally most contaminated metropolis.

Multiple Contamination Sources

The situation in the city is resulting from a combination of different contributors including heavy vehicle emissions, dust, building projects, waste incineration and smoke from crop residue ignition in adjacent regions of neighboring agricultural zones.

Throughout these areas, rural residents routinely burn crop residue to clear them quickly, producing hazardous haze that then gets trapped over the city as cooler air arrives.

Health and Financial Impact

The economic and health consequences on the nearly 33 million inhabitants calling home the metropolitan zone is substantial, according to numerous research.

The contaminated air causes increased incidence of neurological, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and can even lead to cancer.

The pollution is estimated to be responsible for approximately 10k untimely fatalities annually in the capital.