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Tuesday brought citizens of this heavily contaminated metropolis found themselves breathing extremely polluted air that was classified as the "critical" range.

Alarming Air Quality Levels

Various sections of Delhi showed an pollution measurement over 500, which translates to ten times the recommended threshold established by the World Health Organization.

Particular areas, concentrations of toxic particulate matter hit highs of 1,800, equating to fifteen to twenty times exceeding healthy levels.

Firecracker Restrictions and Current Changes

For the past four years, officials had implemented a total prohibition on the distribution and bursting of fireworks during celebrations due to their major role to the deadly haze that engulfs the city as winter approaches.

However in recent months, the current regional government approached the judicial authority to seek a modification of the restrictions.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been doubted by conservation groups as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a balance between "tradition and ecological concerns".

Court Ruling and Implementation

Despite concerns of public health and environmental activists, judges approved the appeal, mandating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be ignited during specific time windows throughout the celebrations.

During the celebrations, there was extensive disregard of the designated hours across the city, with insufficient monitoring regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the supposedly greener version.

Many air quality sensors throughout Delhi recorded air quality peaking around midnight to the most severe levels recorded during the festival in at least recent memory.

Cross-Border Effects

The proliferation of fireworks during the celebrations also triggered a controversy with neighbouring Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistani Punjab partly blaming deteriorating pollution levels in Lahore on pollutants traveling from India following the events.

Chronic Pollution Crisis

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

Near Diwali, the levels of hazardous airborne contaminants in the environment has been documented to increase dramatically to significantly exceeding the peak levels ever measured in the Chinese city, which was previously considered as the planet's dirtiest metropolis.

Various Pollution Factors

This crisis in Delhi is attributed to a combination of multiple factors including transportation pollution, construction debris, construction activities, rubbish burning and smoke from crop residue ignition in nearby regions of Punjab and Haryana.

Throughout these areas, farmers illegally set their fields on fire to prepare for next season, producing hazardous pollution that remains stagnant over the capital as cooler air arrives.

Medical and Economic Consequences

The economic and health impact on the approximately 33 million inhabitants living in the capital region is enormous, according to multiple studies.

The contaminated air causes elevated rates of neurological, heart and circulatory and respiratory diseases, and can result in malignancies.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be responsible for approximately 10k premature fatalities each year in the city.