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As Tuesday dawned inhabitants of this heavily contaminated metropolis were faced with inhaling severely hazardous air that registered in the "critical" level.

Record-Breaking Air Quality Measurements

Several parts of the city registered an air quality index above 500, which translates to ten times the safe level set by the global health authority.

Particular areas, readings of toxic particulate matter reached peaks of 1,800, representing fifteen to twenty times higher than healthy levels.

Fireworks Ban and Current Policy Shifts

For the past four years, the government had maintained a complete ban on the sale and use of firecrackers during the Festival of Lights due to their significant contribution to the hazardous pollution that engulfs the metropolis as colder weather approaches.

Nevertheless recently, the newly elected city government petitioned the highest court to propose a modification of the restrictions.

The suggestion was allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – historically doubted by environmentalists as being only about 30% less polluting – as a middle ground between "heritage and ecological concerns".

Court Verdict and Implementation

Despite concerns of medical and ecological campaigners, the court approved the proposal, stipulating that green firecrackers could be used during limited hours throughout the celebrations.

During the celebrations, there was extensive disregard of the regulated periods across the capital, with insufficient monitoring regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the more environmentally friendly variety.

Several recording stations throughout the capital registered pollution peaking around late evening to extremely hazardous levels recorded during celebrations in at least three years.

International Implications

The proliferation of fireworks during Diwali also triggered a controversy with bordering Pakistan, with officials in Pakistan's Punjab province pointing to declining atmospheric conditions in the city of Lahore on contaminants traveling from across the border following the celebrations.

Long-Standing Pollution Crisis

The dangerously high readings of air contamination in the capital have continued as a serious problem for fifteen-plus years, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Around Diwali, the concentration of hazardous airborne contaminants in the atmosphere has been documented to shoot up to significantly exceeding the peak readings ever documented in Beijing, which was formerly regarded as the globally most contaminated urban center.

Multiple Pollution Sources

The situation in the capital is attributed to a convergence of multiple factors including transportation pollution, airborne particles, building projects, garbage fires and haze from agricultural fires in neighbouring regions of neighboring agricultural zones.

In these regions, rural residents illegally burn crop residue to clear them quickly, producing toxic haze that becomes contained over the capital as winter air arrives.

Health and Financial Toll

Both financial and medical toll on the roughly thirty-three million inhabitants calling home the capital region is substantial, according to multiple investigations.

This pollution causes high levels of neurological, heart and circulatory and breathing conditions, and can result in oncological diseases.

Air quality crisis is estimated to be responsible for 10,000 premature fatalities each year in the city.