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On Tuesday morning residents of the planet's dirtiest urban center encountered exposed to severely hazardous air that fell into the "critical" level.

Record-Breaking Pollution Levels

Several parts of Delhi showed an pollution measurement exceeding 500, which equals ten times the healthy threshold set by the World Health Organization.

Certain monitoring stations, readings of PM2.5 and PM10 soared to of eighteen hundred, amounting to 15-20x above acceptable limits.

Pyrotechnics Prohibition and Current Changes

For the past four years, the government had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the hazardous pollution that blankets the capital as colder weather approaches.

Yet earlier this year, the current regional leadership appealed to the supreme court to request a relaxation of the restrictions.

The suggestion was allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – which have been criticized by environmentalists as being only roughly 30 percent less polluting – as a balance between "heritage and ecological concerns".

Legal Decision and Enforcement

To the disappointment of environmental and health activists, judges agreed to the proposal, stipulating that green firecrackers could be ignited during specific periods throughout the celebrations.

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

Numerous air quality sensors throughout Delhi recorded pollution spiking around late evening to the most severe levels observed during celebrations in at least three years.

Regional Consequences

The proliferation of firecrackers during the celebrations also initiated a controversy with bordering Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistani the Punjab region pointing to declining air quality in the city of Lahore on hazardous particles coming from neighboring India following the festivities.

Chronic Pollution Issue

Extremely elevated levels of atmospheric toxins in the city have remained as a major issue for over a decade and a half, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Near the festival period, the levels of dangerous particulate matter in the environment has been observed to increase dramatically to significantly exceeding the most severe readings ever recorded in China's capital, which was formerly viewed as the world's most polluted metropolis.

Diverse Pollution Sources

This crisis in the city is resulting from a convergence of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, construction debris, development work, garbage fires and haze from crop residue ignition in adjacent areas of neighboring agricultural zones.

Throughout these areas, rural residents illegally set their fields on fire to clear them quickly, creating dangerous smog that becomes contained over the capital as colder air arrives.

Public Health and Financial Toll

The economic and health impact on the approximately 33 million people living in the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to various research.

The contaminated air leads to elevated rates of nervous system, cardiovascular and lung conditions, and can potentially cause malignancies.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be causing 10,000 premature mortalities annually in the city.