🔗 Share this article

Tuesday brought inhabitants of the planet's dirtiest urban center found themselves breathing dangerously toxic air that was classified as the "alarming" category.

Alarming Air Quality Measurements

Multiple areas of the city showed an pollution measurement above 500, which translates to ten times the healthy level set by the global health authority.

Certain monitoring stations, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 hit highs of eighteen hundred, equating to 15 to 20 times higher than acceptable standards.

Fireworks Restrictions and New Developments

For the past four years, authorities had implemented a complete ban on the sale and use of fireworks during the Festival of Lights due to their substantial impact to the hazardous pollution that covers the city as colder weather sets in.

However recently, the newly elected regional leadership approached the highest court to request a easing of the restrictions.

They proposed allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – historically doubted by environmental experts as being only about 30% reduced emissions – as a balance between "heritage and public health".

Judicial Verdict and Enforcement

Much to the frustration of public health and environmental activists, judicial authorities approved the request, mandating that green firecrackers could be ignited during limited hours throughout the Diwali.

During the celebrations, there was widespread disregard of the designated hours across the metropolis, with little monitoring regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the eco-friendly variety.

Numerous recording stations throughout the capital showed pollution spiking around midnight to some of the worst levels observed during the festival in at least three years.

Cross-Border Effects

Extensive ignition of pyrotechnics during the festival also sparked a blame game with neighbouring Pakistan, with representatives in Pakistan's the Punjab region partially attributing declining atmospheric conditions in the city of Lahore on contaminants originating in India following the festivities.

Chronic Pollution Crisis

Extremely elevated concentrations of atmospheric toxins in the city have remained as a significant problem for over a decade and a half, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Around the festival period, the concentration of toxic airborne contaminants in the air has been found to increase dramatically to significantly exceeding the worst levels ever measured in the Chinese city, which was previously considered as the world's most polluted metropolis.

Multiple Pollution Contributors

This crisis in Delhi is attributed to a combination of various sources including automobile exhaust, construction debris, building projects, waste incineration and haze from crop residue ignition in neighbouring regions of neighboring agricultural zones.

Within these states, agricultural workers regularly set their fields on fire to clear them quickly, producing dangerous haze that then gets trapped over the metropolitan area as winter air sets in.

Health and Economic Toll

The economic and health consequences on the approximately 33 million people calling home the capital region is enormous, according to various research.

These hazardous conditions causes elevated rates of nervous system, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and can result in malignancies.

Air quality crisis is estimated to be responsible for 10,000 premature mortalities per year in Delhi.