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As Tuesday dawned citizens of the world's most polluted city found themselves breathing severely hazardous air that was classified as the "alarming" category.

Record-Breaking Pollution Readings

Multiple areas of the city recorded an AQI above 500, which translates to ten times the safe limit set by the WHO.

Particular areas, levels of toxic particulate matter soared to of 1800, equating to 15 to 20 times exceeding safe limits.

Pyrotechnics Ban and New Policy Shifts

For the past four years, officials had maintained a total prohibition on the purchase and ignition of pyrotechnics during Diwali due to their substantial impact to the deadly smog that covers the city as winter approaches.

Yet in recent months, the newly elected city government petitioned the judicial authority to seek a relaxation of the ban.

The suggestion was allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – previously questioned by environmental experts as being only about 30% less polluting – as a middle ground between "heritage and public health".

Legal Ruling and Reality

To the disappointment of medical and ecological campaigners, judges agreed to the request, specifying that environmentally conscious fireworks could be ignited during specific periods throughout the festival.

On Monday night, there was extensive flouting of the designated hours across the metropolis, with little monitoring regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the eco-friendly version.

Numerous recording stations throughout the capital registered air quality peaking around late evening to some of the worst readings seen during celebrations in at least three years.

Regional Consequences

Extensive ignition of fireworks during Diwali also triggered a dispute with adjacent the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's the Punjab region pointing to declining atmospheric conditions in their urban centers on contaminants originating in neighboring India following the events.

Long-Standing Environmental Issue

Extremely elevated concentrations of pollution in the city have remained as a significant issue for over a decade and a half, with the condition showing no improvement.

Around the festival period, the amount of hazardous particles in the environment has been documented to shoot up to 70% higher the worst records ever documented in the Chinese city, which was formerly viewed as the planet's dirtiest metropolis.

Various Contamination Sources

This crisis in the city is attributed to a combination of various sources including transportation pollution, airborne particles, construction activities, garbage fires and smoke from crop residue ignition in nearby states of farming communities.

In these regions, rural residents regularly ignite agricultural waste to expedite field preparation, creating hazardous pollution that remains stagnant over the metropolitan area as colder air sets in.

Health and Economic Toll

Both financial and medical impact on the roughly thirty-three million people residing in the metropolitan zone is significant, according to various research.

These hazardous conditions results in high levels of neurological, cardiovascular and lung diseases, and can even lead to malignancies.

Environmental contamination is calculated to be responsible for ten thousand premature deaths per year in the city.