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As Tuesday dawned inhabitants of the world's most polluted city found themselves exposed to dangerously toxic air that registered in the "severe" level.

Alarming Pollution Levels

Various sections of Delhi registered an pollution measurement above 500, which translates to ten times the recommended limit recommended by the WHO.

Particular areas, readings of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of 1800, amounting to fifteen to twenty times higher than safe standards.

Pyrotechnics Ban and Recent Changes

For the past four years, officials had maintained a total prohibition on the purchase and ignition of pyrotechnics during celebrations due to their substantial impact to the deadly pollution that blankets the capital as the cold season approaches.

Yet earlier this year, the current city leadership petitioned the highest court to propose a relaxation of the restrictions.

They proposed allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – which have been criticized by conservation groups as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a balance between "heritage and public health".

Judicial Verdict and Reality

To the disappointment of environmental and health advocates, judges approved the proposal, mandating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be used during limited periods throughout the festival.

On Monday night, there was extensive disregard of the time restrictions across the capital, with little regulation regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener variety.

Several air quality sensors throughout Delhi showed pollution peaking around midnight to the most severe readings recorded during Diwali in at least three years.

Cross-Border Implications

The proliferation of fireworks during Diwali also triggered a blame game with bordering the neighboring country, with representatives in Pakistan's Punjab partly blaming worsening atmospheric conditions in Lahore on contaminants traveling from neighboring India following the celebrations.

Long-Standing Environmental Crisis

The dangerously high readings of atmospheric toxins in Delhi have remained as a significant challenge for over a decade and a half, with the problem continuing to worsen.

Near celebratory seasons, the levels of hazardous particles in the atmosphere has been observed to spike to seventy percent above the most severe readings ever recorded in the Chinese city, which was formerly considered as the globally most contaminated metropolis.

Diverse Contamination Factors

The problem in Delhi is resulting from a convergence of multiple factors including heavy vehicle emissions, airborne particles, development work, rubbish burning and haze from crop residue ignition in nearby states of farming communities.

Within these states, rural residents routinely set their fields on fire to prepare for next season, generating hazardous haze that then gets trapped over the metropolitan area as cooler air descends.

Public Health and Economic Toll

Both financial and medical impact on the roughly thirty-three million people calling home the Delhi area is substantial, according to various investigations.

These hazardous conditions causes increased incidence of neurological, heart and circulatory and breathing conditions, and can potentially cause cancer.

Air quality crisis is projected to be accounting for 10,000 premature mortalities annually in the capital.