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On Tuesday morning citizens of the world's most polluted city were faced with inhaling dangerously toxic air that registered in the "severe" level.

Alarming Pollution Readings

Multiple areas of the capital registered an pollution measurement over 500, which translates to ten times the recommended limit recommended by the WHO.

Particular areas, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles hit highs of eighteen hundred, equating to 15-20x higher than healthy standards.

Pyrotechnics Prohibition and New Changes

For the past four years, authorities had enforced a total prohibition on the sale and use of pyrotechnics during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the dangerous smog that covers the metropolis as colder weather approaches.

However in recent months, the newly elected local leadership petitioned the highest court to seek a modification of the restrictions.

The suggestion was allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been criticized by environmental experts as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a balance between "cultural practices and ecological concerns".

Judicial Ruling and Implementation

To the disappointment of environmental and health advocates, judges complied with the appeal, specifying that environmentally conscious fireworks could be ignited during specific time windows throughout the celebrations.

On Monday night, there was widespread violation of the regulated periods across the metropolis, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener type.

Several monitoring devices throughout the city recorded air quality spiking around late evening to the most severe levels seen during Diwali in at least three years.

International Implications

The widespread use of fireworks during the celebrations also triggered a controversy with adjacent the neighboring country, with representatives in Pakistani Punjab province pointing to deteriorating pollution levels in Lahore on pollutants coming from India following the celebrations.

Chronic Pollution Issue

The dangerously high concentrations of pollution in Delhi have remained as a major problem for more than 15 years, with the condition gradually deteriorating.

Near celebratory seasons, the amount of toxic particulate matter in the atmosphere has been observed to shoot up to seventy percent above the peak levels ever recorded in the Chinese city, which was once considered as the world's most polluted metropolis.

Various Pollution Factors

This crisis in the capital is caused by a combination of various sources including heavy vehicle emissions, dust, construction activities, waste incineration and haze from agricultural fires in adjacent regions of neighboring agricultural zones.

Within these states, agricultural workers regularly set their fields on fire to prepare for next season, creating hazardous pollution that becomes contained over the metropolitan area as colder air descends.

Medical and Economic Consequences

The economic and health consequences on the approximately 33 million inhabitants living in the capital region is significant, according to multiple research.

These hazardous conditions results in elevated rates of neurological, heart and circulatory and breathing disorders, and can potentially cause oncological diseases.

Environmental contamination is projected to be causing ten thousand early fatalities each year in Delhi.