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As Tuesday dawned inhabitants of the planet's dirtiest urban center encountered inhaling severely hazardous air that registered in the "severe" category.

Extremely High Pollution Readings

Multiple areas of the capital registered an pollution measurement above 500, which equals a tenfold increase over the safe threshold set by the global health authority.

Certain monitoring stations, concentrations of toxic particulate matter soared to of 1800, equating to 15 to 20 times higher than acceptable standards.

Firecracker Prohibition and Current Changes

For the past four years, the government had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the purchase and ignition of firecrackers during celebrations due to their significant contribution to the dangerous smog that covers the metropolis as winter sets in.

Nevertheless recently, the current city leadership appealed to the highest court to seek a easing of the ban.

The suggestion was allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been doubted by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a balance between "tradition and ecological concerns".

Judicial Ruling and Reality

Despite concerns of public health and environmental campaigners, the court agreed to the request, stipulating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be used during specific hours throughout the festival.

Throughout the festival evening, there was considerable disregard of the regulated periods across the city, with little monitoring regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the more environmentally friendly variety.

Many monitoring devices throughout the city registered contamination peaking around midnight to the most severe levels recorded during celebrations in at least recent memory.

International Implications

The proliferation of firecrackers during the celebrations also sparked a controversy with adjacent the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab pointing to deteriorating atmospheric conditions in Lahore on hazardous particles coming from across the border following the festivities.

Chronic Pollution Issue

Alarmingly severe levels of pollution in Delhi have persisted as a significant issue for over a decade and a half, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

Around celebratory seasons, the amount of hazardous particulate matter in the atmosphere has been found to shoot up to significantly exceeding the most severe readings ever measured in the Chinese city, which was previously considered as the globally most contaminated city.

Diverse Contamination Factors

The problem in the capital is resulting from a combination of various sources including automobile exhaust, dust, development work, garbage fires and pollutants from crop residue ignition in nearby regions of farming communities.

Throughout these areas, agricultural workers regularly burn crop residue to prepare for next season, generating hazardous haze that remains stagnant over the capital as colder air descends.

Medical and Economic Consequences

The economic and health consequences on the nearly 33 million residents residing in the Delhi area is substantial, according to various investigations.

The contaminated air leads to elevated rates of neurological, heart and circulatory and lung conditions, and can potentially cause oncological diseases.

The pollution is calculated to be accounting for ten thousand premature deaths each year in the city.