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Tuesday brought residents of this heavily contaminated metropolis encountered breathing severely hazardous air that registered in the "severe" category.

Record-Breaking Air Quality Readings

Several parts of the capital showed an AQI over 500, which translates to 10x the healthy level set by the WHO.

Particular areas, concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 soared to of 1,800, representing 15-20x exceeding safe levels.

Fireworks Restrictions and Recent Policy Shifts

For the past four years, the government had implemented a comprehensive restriction on the sale and use of firecrackers during the Festival of Lights due to their substantial impact to the dangerous smog that engulfs the metropolis as winter sets in.

Yet in recent months, the current regional government approached the supreme court to propose a modification of the ban.

Officials advocated for allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – which have been criticized by environmentalists as being only roughly 30 percent reduced emissions – as a compromise between "cultural practices and environment".

Court Verdict and Reality

To the disappointment of medical and ecological advocates, the court complied with the proposal, stipulating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be used during limited hours throughout the festival.

During the celebrations, there was considerable flouting of the designated hours across the city, with minimal monitoring regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener type.

Many air quality sensors throughout the city showed air quality spiking around midnight to some of the worst readings recorded during Diwali in at least the past three years.

International Effects

The proliferation of fireworks during the celebrations also sparked a blame game with neighbouring the neighboring country, with representatives in Pakistan's the Punjab region partly blaming worsening air quality in the city of Lahore on pollutants coming from neighboring India following the celebrations.

Persistent Environmental Crisis

The dangerously high concentrations of air contamination in the capital have remained as a serious issue for fifteen-plus years, with the condition continuing to worsen.

Near the festival period, the concentration of dangerous particulate matter in the air has been documented to shoot up to 70% higher the worst records ever measured in Beijing, which was previously viewed as the globally most contaminated metropolis.

Diverse Pollution Factors

This crisis in the city is caused by a mix of different contributors including transportation pollution, airborne particles, development work, rubbish burning and smoke from farm burning in adjacent states of Punjab and Haryana.

Within these states, rural residents routinely burn crop residue to expedite field preparation, generating dangerous haze that then gets trapped over the city as colder air sets in.

Medical and Financial Consequences

The economic and health impact on the approximately 33 million people calling home the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to various studies.

These hazardous conditions leads to elevated rates of neurological, cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, and can potentially cause malignancies.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be responsible for ten thousand premature fatalities annually in the capital.