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Tuesday brought residents of the world's most polluted city were faced with exposed to extremely polluted air that fell into the "alarming" category.

Extremely High Air Quality Measurements

Several parts of the city recorded an pollution measurement above 500, which translates to 10x the recommended limit set by the WHO.

Certain monitoring stations, readings of toxic particulate matter hit highs of 1,800, equating to 15-20x above healthy standards.

Fireworks Prohibition and Current Developments

For the past four years, officials had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the purchase and ignition of fireworks during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the deadly smog that blankets the city as winter approaches.

However earlier this year, the recently formed city government approached the highest court to seek a relaxation of the restrictions.

The suggestion was allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – previously criticized by conservation groups as being only roughly 30 percent less polluting – as a balance between "heritage and environment".

Judicial Ruling and Implementation

To the disappointment of environmental and health activists, judges agreed to the request, stipulating that green firecrackers could be set off during specific periods throughout the Diwali.

During the celebrations, there was extensive violation of the designated hours across the capital, with little monitoring regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the supposedly greener type.

Many recording stations throughout the capital recorded air quality reaching highest levels around the night hours to extremely hazardous levels recorded during celebrations in at least recent memory.

International Implications

The proliferation of pyrotechnics during the celebrations also sparked a dispute with bordering the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab partially attributing worsening atmospheric conditions in their urban centers on pollutants coming from neighboring India following the celebrations.

Long-Standing Environmental Issue

The dangerously high concentrations of pollution in the city have remained as a significant issue for over a decade and a half, with the situation showing no improvement.

During Diwali, the concentration of toxic particulate matter in the environment has been found to spike to seventy percent above the most severe readings ever recorded in Beijing, which was previously considered as the world's most polluted urban center.

Various Pollution Sources

The problem in the city is caused by a convergence of different contributors including transportation pollution, construction debris, building projects, waste incineration and smoke from crop residue ignition in neighbouring regions of Punjab and Haryana.

Within these states, rural residents illegally set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, generating toxic haze that remains stagnant over the metropolitan area as cooler air arrives.

Health and Financial Impact

Public health and economic consequences on the roughly thirty-three million inhabitants living in the capital region is significant, according to numerous research.

The contaminated air leads to high levels of nervous system, heart and circulatory and respiratory diseases, and can result in malignancies.

Air quality crisis is calculated to be accounting for ten thousand premature fatalities annually in the city.