🔗 Share this article

As Tuesday dawned citizens of this heavily contaminated metropolis encountered breathing dangerously toxic air that fell into the "severe" category.

Alarming Air Quality Measurements

Several parts of Delhi registered an AQI above 500, which translates to a tenfold increase over the healthy limit recommended by the WHO.

In some locations, readings of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of 1800, amounting to fifteen to twenty times exceeding healthy levels.

Fireworks Ban and Recent Policy Shifts

For the past four years, authorities had enforced a total prohibition on the purchase and ignition of firecrackers during celebrations due to their substantial impact to the deadly haze that engulfs the city as colder weather begins.

Yet in recent months, the current city administration appealed to the highest court to propose a modification of the prohibition.

They proposed allowing "green crackers" – which have been doubted by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third lower impact – as a compromise between "heritage and ecological concerns".

Judicial Verdict and Reality

Despite concerns of medical and ecological campaigners, judicial authorities approved the proposal, specifying that environmentally conscious fireworks could be set off during limited hours throughout the festival.

Throughout the festival evening, there was widespread disregard of the time restrictions across the city, with minimal enforcement regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the more environmentally friendly variety.

Many recording stations throughout Delhi showed air quality peaking around midnight to extremely hazardous levels seen during the festival in at least recent memory.

International Implications

The proliferation of fireworks during Diwali also triggered a dispute with neighbouring the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistani the Punjab region pointing to worsening air quality in the city of Lahore on pollutants coming from across the border following the festivities.

Persistent Environmental Crisis

The dangerously high readings of atmospheric toxins in the capital have continued as a major challenge for fifteen-plus years, with the condition gradually deteriorating.

Around celebratory seasons, the concentration of toxic particulate matter in the environment has been documented to spike to 70% higher the worst levels ever recorded in Beijing, which was previously viewed as the globally most contaminated metropolis.

Multiple Contamination Sources

The problem in the city is resulting from a convergence of different contributors including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, development work, waste incineration and haze from farm burning in adjacent areas of Punjab and Haryana.

In these regions, rural residents routinely set their fields on fire to prepare for next season, producing dangerous pollution that then gets trapped over the capital as colder air descends.

Health and Financial Impact

Both financial and medical toll on the roughly thirty-three million residents living in the metropolitan zone is substantial, according to multiple investigations.

The contaminated air causes high levels of neurological, cardiovascular and breathing conditions, and can result in malignancies.

Environmental contamination is projected to be accounting for ten thousand premature deaths per year in Delhi.