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On Tuesday morning citizens of the world's most polluted city were faced with exposed to severely hazardous air that registered in the "critical" range.

Alarming Air Quality Levels

Various sections of the city recorded an pollution measurement above 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the healthy level set by the World Health Organization.

In some locations, levels of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of 1800, equating to 15 to 20 times higher than healthy standards.

Pyrotechnics Ban and New Developments

For the past four years, authorities had implemented a total prohibition on the purchase and ignition of firecrackers during Diwali due to their major role to the hazardous pollution that engulfs the city as the cold season approaches.

Yet earlier this year, the newly elected local administration petitioned the supreme court to seek a easing of the ban.

They proposed allowing "green crackers" – which have been doubted by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third reduced emissions – as a compromise between "tradition and public health".

Judicial Decision and Implementation

Despite concerns of medical and ecological campaigners, the court approved the proposal, specifying that green firecrackers could be set off during limited periods throughout the celebrations.

Throughout the festival evening, there was considerable disregard of the designated hours across the metropolis, with minimal regulation regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the supposedly greener version.

Numerous monitoring devices throughout the city showed air quality peaking around late evening to the most severe levels observed during celebrations in at least recent memory.

Cross-Border Implications

The widespread use of pyrotechnics during the festival also sparked a blame game with neighbouring Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistani the Punjab region pointing to declining atmospheric conditions in their urban centers on contaminants traveling from across the border following the celebrations.

Persistent Pollution Crisis

Extremely elevated concentrations of air contamination in the city have remained as a significant challenge for more than 15 years, with the problem showing no improvement.

During the festival period, the levels of dangerous particulate matter in the air has been observed to increase dramatically to 70% higher the most severe readings ever documented in the Chinese city, which was once viewed as the globally most contaminated metropolis.

Various Pollution Factors

This crisis in the city is caused by a combination of different contributors including transportation pollution, dust, development work, garbage fires and haze from farm burning in adjacent states of Punjab and Haryana.

Throughout these areas, farmers regularly ignite agricultural waste to clear them quickly, generating hazardous haze that then gets trapped over the metropolitan area as cooler air sets in.

Health and Economic Consequences

Both financial and medical consequences on the approximately 33 million people residing in the capital region is substantial, according to numerous investigations.

This pollution leads to increased incidence of nervous system, heart and circulatory and lung conditions, and can potentially cause malignancies.

Environmental contamination is calculated to be causing approximately 10k early fatalities per year in Delhi.