🔗 Share this article

As Tuesday dawned inhabitants of the planet's dirtiest urban center encountered exposed to severely hazardous air that registered in the "critical" level.

Alarming Air Quality Levels

Multiple areas of Delhi recorded an air quality index above 500, which equals 10x the safe level established by the World Health Organization.

Certain monitoring stations, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 hit highs of eighteen hundred, amounting to 15-20x higher than safe limits.

Fireworks Prohibition and New Developments

Beginning in 2020, officials had enforced a total prohibition on the distribution and bursting of firecrackers during Diwali due to their significant contribution to the deadly smog that covers the city as colder weather sets in.

Yet earlier this year, the recently formed city government appealed to the supreme court to seek a easing of the restrictions.

The suggestion was allowing "green crackers" – historically doubted by environmental experts as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a middle ground between "cultural practices and public health".

Court Ruling and Reality

To the disappointment of public health and environmental advocates, the court complied with the request, specifying that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be set off during designated time windows throughout the celebrations.

Throughout the festival evening, there was extensive flouting of the designated hours across the capital, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the more environmentally friendly version.

Numerous monitoring devices throughout the capital registered air quality peaking around midnight to extremely hazardous readings recorded during celebrations in at least the past three years.

International Implications

Extensive ignition of pyrotechnics during the festival also triggered a controversy with neighbouring the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab pointing to declining atmospheric conditions in the city of Lahore on hazardous particles traveling from India following the events.

Persistent Pollution Crisis

The dangerously high levels of air contamination in Delhi have persisted as a significant challenge for fifteen-plus years, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

During Diwali, the levels of toxic airborne contaminants in the environment has been found to spike to 70% higher the worst readings ever measured in the Chinese city, which was formerly viewed as the globally most contaminated metropolis.

Diverse Contamination Sources

This crisis in the capital is attributed to a mix of different contributors including heavy vehicle emissions, construction debris, development work, garbage fires and pollutants from farm burning in neighbouring regions of Punjab and Haryana.

Throughout these areas, farmers illegally ignite agricultural waste to expedite field preparation, creating hazardous haze that remains stagnant over the city as cooler air sets in.

Medical and Economic Impact

Both financial and medical consequences on the approximately 33 million residents residing in the Delhi area is enormous, according to various research.

The contaminated air results in increased incidence of neurological, cardiovascular and breathing conditions, and can even lead to cancer.

The pollution is calculated to be accounting for 10,000 premature deaths each year in the city.