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Tuesday brought inhabitants of the planet's dirtiest urban center found themselves breathing dangerously toxic air that registered in the "alarming" category.

Extremely High Air Quality Readings

Multiple areas of the city showed an AQI above 500, which translates to 10x the recommended threshold established by the global health authority.

Certain monitoring stations, readings of toxic particulate matter soared to of eighteen hundred, representing 15 to 20 times above safe levels.

Firecracker Prohibition and Recent Developments

For the past four years, authorities had implemented a complete ban on the sale and use of fireworks during Diwali due to their major role to the hazardous haze that covers the capital as winter begins.

However earlier this year, the newly elected local government appealed to the highest court to propose a modification of the ban.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – previously doubted by environmental experts as being only about 30% less polluting – as a compromise between "tradition and environment".

Judicial Verdict and Reality

To the disappointment of environmental and health activists, judicial authorities agreed to the request, mandating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be ignited during specific periods throughout the celebrations.

During the celebrations, there was extensive violation of the regulated periods across the city, with little monitoring regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the more environmentally friendly variety.

Numerous recording stations throughout the city recorded pollution peaking around the night hours to extremely hazardous levels recorded during Diwali in at least three years.

Cross-Border Implications

The proliferation of fireworks during the celebrations also sparked a blame game with bordering Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistani Punjab partially attributing deteriorating pollution levels in their urban centers on pollutants traveling from across the border following the festivities.

Long-Standing Pollution Issue

Alarmingly severe levels of pollution in the capital have remained as a serious problem for more than 15 years, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Near celebratory seasons, the concentration of toxic particles in the air has been observed to shoot up to 70% higher the most severe levels ever recorded in Beijing, which was previously regarded as the world's most polluted city.

Diverse Contamination Contributors

The problem in Delhi is attributed to a mix of different contributors including heavy vehicle emissions, dust, building projects, garbage fires and pollutants from agricultural fires in adjacent areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Within these states, farmers illegally burn crop residue to clear them quickly, generating hazardous haze that becomes contained over the capital as winter air descends.

Public Health and Financial Consequences

Both financial and medical toll on the nearly 33 million people calling home the capital region is significant, according to numerous research.

The contaminated air causes high levels of nervous system, cardiovascular and lung conditions, and can even lead to cancer.

The pollution is estimated to be accounting for 10,000 early mortalities annually in the capital.