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Tuesday brought inhabitants of the planet's dirtiest urban center were faced with exposed to severely hazardous air that was classified as the "critical" level.

Extremely High Pollution Measurements

Several parts of Delhi showed an pollution measurement over 500, which translates to 10x the safe threshold established by the WHO.

Certain monitoring stations, levels of dangerous airborne particles hit highs of 1800, representing 15-20x above acceptable limits.

Pyrotechnics Ban and Current Developments

For the past four years, the government had implemented a total prohibition on the sale and use of firecrackers during Diwali due to their major role to the deadly haze that engulfs the city as the cold season approaches.

Yet recently, the recently formed local leadership petitioned the supreme court to seek a easing of the prohibition.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been criticized by environmentalists as being only about 30% lower impact – as a compromise between "tradition and ecological concerns".

Legal Ruling and Reality

Much to the frustration of medical and ecological advocates, judicial authorities agreed to the appeal, stipulating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be used during limited time windows throughout the festival.

On Monday night, there was extensive flouting of the regulated periods across the capital, with little enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener version.

Numerous air quality sensors throughout the city showed pollution reaching highest levels around the night hours to some of the worst measurements recorded during Diwali in at least recent memory.

Regional Consequences

The proliferation of fireworks during Diwali also initiated a controversy with neighbouring Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab partially attributing declining atmospheric conditions in Lahore on hazardous particles originating in across the border following the events.

Long-Standing Environmental Crisis

The dangerously high concentrations of pollution in the capital have remained as a major challenge for more than 15 years, with the situation continuing to worsen.

During Diwali, the levels of toxic particulate matter in the atmosphere has been documented to spike to 70% higher the most severe records ever recorded in Beijing, which was previously regarded as the world's most polluted city.

Multiple Pollution Factors

The problem in the capital is attributed to a convergence of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, development work, waste incineration and smoke from agricultural fires in neighbouring regions of Punjab and Haryana.

Within these states, farmers routinely set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, creating dangerous haze that becomes contained over the capital as colder air arrives.

Medical and Financial Impact

Public health and economic toll on the roughly thirty-three million residents calling home the capital region is significant, according to numerous investigations.

This pollution causes high levels of nervous system, cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, and can result in malignancies.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be responsible for 10,000 untimely fatalities annually in the city.