🔗 Share this article

As Tuesday dawned citizens of this heavily contaminated metropolis found themselves exposed to dangerously toxic air that was classified as the "severe" category.

Extremely High Air Quality Measurements

Various sections of the city recorded an pollution measurement above 500, which represents 10x the healthy level established by the WHO.

Particular areas, concentrations of toxic particulate matter reached peaks of 1800, amounting to 15 to 20 times higher than acceptable limits.

Pyrotechnics Prohibition and Recent Policy Shifts

For the past four years, officials had implemented a comprehensive restriction on the sale and use of pyrotechnics during celebrations due to their significant contribution to the hazardous haze that covers the capital as winter begins.

Yet in recent months, the recently formed regional leadership approached the highest court to propose a modification of the ban.

Officials advocated for allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been doubted by environmental experts as being only roughly 30 percent reduced emissions – as a middle ground between "tradition and environment".

Judicial Decision and Reality

Despite concerns of medical and ecological activists, judicial authorities complied with the request, stipulating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be ignited during specific hours throughout the celebrations.

During the celebrations, there was considerable violation of the regulated periods across the city, with little monitoring regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the supposedly greener variety.

Several monitoring devices throughout the city showed contamination peaking around late evening to some of the worst readings observed during the festival in at least the past three years.

Regional Consequences

The widespread use of firecrackers during Diwali also sparked a dispute with bordering the neighboring country, with representatives in Pakistani Punjab pointing to declining atmospheric conditions in their urban centers on contaminants originating in across the border following the festivities.

Persistent Pollution Problem

The dangerously high concentrations of air contamination in the capital have persisted as a serious issue for fifteen-plus years, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Near Diwali, the levels of toxic particles in the air has been documented to shoot up to seventy percent above the peak levels ever documented in Beijing, which was once regarded as the planet's dirtiest urban center.

Various Contamination Sources

The problem in the city is caused by a mix of different contributors including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, development work, garbage fires and haze from farm burning in nearby states of Punjab and Haryana.

Throughout these areas, agricultural workers regularly ignite agricultural waste to expedite field preparation, creating toxic smog that then gets trapped over the city as colder air descends.

Health and Economic Impact

Public health and economic impact on the nearly 33 million inhabitants calling home the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to numerous research.

This pollution leads to elevated rates of nervous system, heart and circulatory and respiratory diseases, and can potentially cause oncological diseases.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be responsible for 10,000 premature fatalities each year in the capital.