🔗 Share this article

On Tuesday morning inhabitants of the world's most polluted city found themselves exposed to severely hazardous air that registered in the "critical" level.

Extremely High Pollution Measurements

Multiple areas of the city showed an air quality index over 500, which represents 10x the recommended threshold set by the World Health Organization.

In some locations, levels of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of eighteen hundred, representing 15-20x above healthy standards.

Pyrotechnics Restrictions and Recent Changes

For the past four years, the government had enforced a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of fireworks during celebrations due to their significant contribution to the dangerous pollution that engulfs the capital as colder weather begins.

However recently, the current regional leadership approached the judicial authority to request a easing of the restrictions.

Officials advocated for allowing "green crackers" – historically questioned by environmentalists as being only approximately one-third lower impact – as a balance between "tradition and public health".

Court Verdict and Reality

Despite concerns of medical and ecological activists, judicial authorities agreed to the appeal, stipulating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be ignited during designated hours throughout the celebrations.

Throughout the festival evening, there was widespread flouting of the time restrictions across the metropolis, with minimal monitoring regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the supposedly greener type.

Several air quality sensors throughout Delhi showed pollution reaching highest levels around late evening to the most severe readings seen during celebrations in at least the past three years.

Regional Implications

The widespread use of firecrackers during the festival also triggered a dispute with adjacent the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistan's the Punjab region partially attributing deteriorating air quality in their urban centers on hazardous particles traveling from across the border following the celebrations.

Long-Standing Pollution Crisis

Alarmingly severe concentrations of pollution in Delhi have persisted as a significant issue for fifteen-plus years, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

Near the festival period, the concentration of hazardous particles in the environment has been found to spike to seventy percent above the most severe levels ever documented in the Chinese city, which was once considered as the world's most polluted city.

Various Contamination Factors

This crisis in the capital is resulting from a mix of multiple factors including transportation pollution, airborne particles, building projects, rubbish burning and haze from crop residue ignition in neighbouring states of neighboring agricultural zones.

Throughout these areas, farmers regularly ignite agricultural waste to prepare for next season, generating hazardous haze that becomes contained over the capital as cooler air arrives.

Medical and Financial Toll

The economic and health consequences on the approximately 33 million residents calling home the Delhi area is significant, according to multiple investigations.

This pollution causes high levels of nervous system, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and can result in cancer.

Air quality crisis is estimated to be causing approximately 10k early deaths per year in Delhi.