Tuesday brought residents of the world's most polluted city were faced with breathing extremely polluted air that registered in the "alarming" category.
Various sections of Delhi recorded an air quality index over 500, which equals ten times the recommended threshold established by the global health authority.
Certain monitoring stations, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 hit highs of 1800, representing 15-20x exceeding acceptable levels.
For the past four years, officials had enforced a complete ban on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during Diwali due to their significant contribution to the hazardous pollution that covers the city as the cold season begins.
Nevertheless earlier this year, the current city government petitioned the highest court to seek a relaxation of the ban.
They proposed allowing "green crackers" – historically criticized by environmentalists as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a balance between "cultural practices and ecological concerns".
To the disappointment of medical and ecological activists, judges agreed to the request, mandating that green firecrackers could be ignited during limited hours throughout the celebrations.
Throughout the festival evening, there was widespread disregard of the regulated periods across the capital, with little monitoring regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the supposedly greener variety.
Many recording stations throughout the capital registered contamination peaking around midnight to some of the worst readings seen during Diwali in at least the past three years.
The proliferation of pyrotechnics during Diwali also initiated a controversy with bordering the neighboring country, with representatives in Pakistan's the Punjab region pointing to worsening pollution levels in Lahore on contaminants coming from India following the events.
Extremely elevated levels of pollution in the city have continued as a serious challenge for fifteen-plus years, with the problem gradually deteriorating.
Near the festival period, the levels of toxic airborne contaminants in the environment has been documented to increase dramatically to seventy percent above the most severe records ever recorded in Beijing, which was formerly viewed as the planet's dirtiest city.
The situation in the capital is resulting from a convergence of various sources including heavy vehicle emissions, construction debris, construction activities, waste incineration and smoke from agricultural fires in adjacent states of neighboring agricultural zones.
Throughout these areas, rural residents regularly set their fields on fire to clear them quickly, creating toxic pollution that then gets trapped over the capital as colder air descends.
Both financial and medical impact on the approximately 33 million residents residing in the metropolitan zone is substantial, according to multiple research.
This pollution causes high levels of neurological, cardiovascular and lung disorders, and can even lead to oncological diseases.
Air quality crisis is projected to be responsible for 10,000 early mortalities per year in the city.
Escritora y analista cultural con experiencia en medios internacionales, apasionada por explorar cómo las ideas locales impactan en el mundo.
