🔗 Share this article

On Tuesday morning residents of the world's most polluted city encountered inhaling dangerously toxic air that fell into the "critical" level.

Alarming Pollution Measurements

Several parts of Delhi recorded an pollution measurement over 500, which translates to a tenfold increase over the safe threshold set by the global health authority.

Certain monitoring stations, readings of PM2.5 and PM10 soared to of 1800, amounting to 15 to 20 times exceeding safe limits.

Pyrotechnics Prohibition and Recent Changes

Since 2020, authorities had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the purchase and ignition of fireworks during the Festival of Lights due to their substantial impact to the deadly haze that blankets the city as winter begins.

However in recent months, the newly elected local government approached the judicial authority to propose a easing of the ban.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been doubted by environmental experts as being only roughly 30 percent less polluting – as a middle ground between "tradition and public health".

Judicial Verdict and Enforcement

Despite concerns of medical and ecological activists, judicial authorities complied with the appeal, mandating that green firecrackers could be ignited during limited time windows throughout the Diwali.

Throughout the festival evening, there was extensive violation of the regulated periods across the capital, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the more environmentally friendly version.

Many recording stations throughout the capital showed pollution peaking around midnight to some of the worst levels seen during celebrations in at least the past three years.

Regional Implications

The widespread use of pyrotechnics during the celebrations also initiated a dispute with neighbouring Pakistan, with representatives in Pakistan's the Punjab region pointing to deteriorating atmospheric conditions in the city of Lahore on pollutants coming from across the border following the events.

Chronic Environmental Crisis

Extremely elevated levels of air contamination in the capital have continued as a significant issue for fifteen-plus years, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Around the festival period, the levels of dangerous particulate matter in the atmosphere has been found to increase dramatically to seventy percent above the worst levels ever recorded in Beijing, which was previously regarded as the planet's dirtiest metropolis.

Multiple Contamination Factors

The situation in the city is resulting from a convergence of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, construction debris, construction activities, waste incineration and haze from farm burning in neighbouring regions of farming communities.

In these regions, farmers regularly set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, generating hazardous smog that remains stagnant over the city as colder air arrives.

Medical and Financial Toll

Public health and economic toll on the roughly thirty-three million people living in the Delhi area is significant, according to multiple research.

This pollution leads to elevated rates of neurological, cardiovascular and lung diseases, and can potentially cause oncological diseases.

The pollution is projected to be causing 10,000 premature mortalities per year in Delhi.