🔗 Share this article

Tuesday brought citizens of this heavily contaminated metropolis were faced with breathing dangerously toxic air that fell into the "alarming" range.

Extremely High Air Quality Measurements

Multiple areas of the city showed an pollution measurement above 500, which translates to a tenfold increase over the safe level established by the global health authority.

In some locations, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles soared to of 1,800, representing 15-20x above safe limits.

Fireworks Ban and New Policy Shifts

Beginning in 2020, officials had enforced a comprehensive restriction on the purchase and ignition of firecrackers during Diwali due to their substantial impact to the deadly smog that covers the city as the cold season approaches.

Nevertheless earlier this year, the current local administration approached the supreme court to propose a relaxation of the restrictions.

Officials advocated for allowing "green crackers" – historically criticized by conservation groups as being only about 30% reduced emissions – as a middle ground between "heritage and environment".

Judicial Decision and Reality

Much to the frustration of environmental and health campaigners, judicial authorities approved the proposal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be ignited during limited periods throughout the celebrations.

Throughout the festival evening, there was extensive violation of the regulated periods across the city, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the eco-friendly version.

Many monitoring devices throughout Delhi recorded pollution peaking around midnight to the most severe levels observed during the festival in at least three years.

Regional Effects

The widespread use of pyrotechnics during the celebrations also sparked a blame game with bordering the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab partly blaming declining atmospheric conditions in the city of Lahore on contaminants coming from India following the festivities.

Persistent Environmental Problem

Alarmingly severe concentrations of pollution in Delhi have continued as a significant problem for more than 15 years, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Near Diwali, the levels of hazardous airborne contaminants in the air has been found to shoot up to 70% higher the worst levels ever measured in China's capital, which was once viewed as the globally most contaminated city.

Diverse Contamination Factors

The situation in Delhi is attributed to a mix of different contributors including heavy vehicle emissions, dust, building projects, rubbish burning and pollutants from agricultural fires in neighbouring regions of farming communities.

In these regions, farmers illegally burn crop residue to prepare for next season, generating dangerous haze that remains stagnant over the metropolitan area as colder air arrives.

Medical and Economic Toll

The economic and health consequences on the nearly 33 million inhabitants residing in the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to multiple investigations.

These hazardous conditions leads to elevated rates of nervous system, cardiovascular and breathing disorders, and can potentially cause malignancies.

The pollution is estimated to be responsible for approximately 10k early deaths per year in the city.