🔗 Share this article

As Tuesday dawned residents of the world's most polluted city were faced with exposed to dangerously toxic air that registered in the "critical" range.

Record-Breaking Air Quality Measurements

Multiple areas of the city registered an AQI exceeding 500, which represents 10x the healthy level recommended by the global health authority.

In some locations, levels of toxic particulate matter reached peaks of eighteen hundred, equating to 15 to 20 times higher than acceptable limits.

Firecracker Ban and New Developments

Since 2020, officials had implemented a complete ban on the distribution and bursting of fireworks during the Festival of Lights due to their significant contribution to the hazardous haze that covers the city as the cold season begins.

Yet earlier this year, the newly elected city government appealed to the supreme court to request a modification of the ban.

The suggestion was allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – which have been questioned by conservation groups as being only approximately one-third lower impact – as a compromise between "cultural practices and public health".

Legal Verdict and Enforcement

Much to the frustration of medical and ecological campaigners, the court complied with the proposal, stipulating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be used during limited hours throughout the festival.

During the celebrations, there was extensive violation of the time restrictions across the metropolis, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the supposedly greener type.

Numerous air quality sensors throughout the city recorded contamination reaching highest levels around late evening to extremely hazardous measurements observed during the festival in at least the past three years.

Cross-Border Implications

The proliferation of firecrackers during the festival also initiated a dispute with adjacent the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistani Punjab province partly blaming declining pollution levels in their urban centers on contaminants originating in across the border following the celebrations.

Persistent Pollution Crisis

The dangerously high levels of air contamination in the city have continued as a serious challenge for fifteen-plus years, with the situation continuing to worsen.

During Diwali, the concentration of hazardous particles in the air has been documented to shoot up to 70% higher the most severe levels ever documented in the Chinese city, which was previously viewed as the world's most polluted urban center.

Diverse Contamination Sources

The situation in the city is caused by a mix of multiple factors including heavy vehicle emissions, airborne particles, construction activities, rubbish burning and pollutants from farm burning in neighbouring states of farming communities.

In these regions, rural residents routinely burn crop residue to expedite field preparation, generating toxic haze that remains stagnant over the capital as cooler air descends.

Public Health and Economic Impact

Public health and economic consequences on the nearly 33 million people living in the capital region is enormous, according to various investigations.

This pollution results in elevated rates of nervous system, heart and circulatory and breathing diseases, and can even lead to malignancies.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be causing approximately 10k untimely mortalities per year in Delhi.