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As Tuesday dawned residents of the world's most polluted city found themselves breathing dangerously toxic air that fell into the "alarming" category.

Record-Breaking Pollution Levels

Various sections of the city registered an AQI over 500, which translates to ten times the recommended level established by the global health authority.

Particular areas, readings of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of eighteen hundred, representing fifteen to twenty times higher than acceptable standards.

Pyrotechnics Prohibition and Recent Policy Shifts

For the past four years, authorities had implemented a total prohibition on the sale and use of pyrotechnics during celebrations due to their major role to the hazardous smog that covers the metropolis as winter begins.

Yet earlier this year, the current local government appealed to the supreme court to request a modification of the prohibition.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – previously criticized by conservation groups as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a compromise between "heritage and public health".

Legal Ruling and Reality

To the disappointment of environmental and health activists, the court complied with the appeal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be used during specific time windows throughout the celebrations.

During the celebrations, there was considerable disregard of the time restrictions across the metropolis, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener variety.

Numerous air quality sensors throughout Delhi showed pollution spiking around the night hours to extremely hazardous levels seen during Diwali in at least the past three years.

International Effects

The proliferation of firecrackers during the celebrations also sparked a controversy with adjacent the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistan's the Punjab region pointing to declining air quality in the city of Lahore on pollutants coming from across the border following the events.

Long-Standing Environmental Crisis

The dangerously high readings of atmospheric toxins in the city have remained as a serious issue for more than 15 years, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

Near celebratory seasons, the levels of hazardous airborne contaminants in the air has been observed to shoot up to 70% higher the most severe readings ever documented in China's capital, which was previously regarded as the globally most contaminated urban center.

Multiple Pollution Contributors

This crisis in Delhi is caused by a convergence of various sources including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, development work, waste incineration and pollutants from crop residue ignition in nearby areas of farming communities.

Throughout these areas, rural residents illegally ignite agricultural waste to prepare for next season, creating dangerous pollution that remains stagnant over the city as cooler air descends.

Medical and Economic Impact

Public health and economic impact on the roughly thirty-three million residents calling home the metropolitan zone is significant, according to numerous studies.

This pollution causes high levels of nervous system, cardiovascular and lung conditions, and can even lead to malignancies.

Environmental contamination is calculated to be causing ten thousand untimely deaths per year in the capital.