🔗 Share this article

As Tuesday dawned residents of the world's most polluted city found themselves exposed to severely hazardous air that registered in the "alarming" range.

Record-Breaking Pollution Readings

Several parts of Delhi showed an air quality index over 500, which translates to a tenfold increase over the safe level established by the WHO.

Particular areas, levels of toxic particulate matter reached peaks of eighteen hundred, representing fifteen to twenty times exceeding healthy limits.

Pyrotechnics Ban and Recent Policy Shifts

Since 2020, authorities had enforced a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of firecrackers during Diwali due to their significant contribution to the deadly smog that blankets the capital as colder weather approaches.

Yet recently, the current local government petitioned the highest court to propose a modification of the restrictions.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been doubted by conservation groups as being only approximately one-third lower impact – as a balance between "heritage and ecological concerns".

Court Verdict and Reality

Much to the frustration of public health and environmental campaigners, the court agreed to the proposal, mandating that green firecrackers could be used during specific time windows throughout the festival.

Throughout the festival evening, there was considerable flouting of the regulated periods across the capital, with little regulation regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the eco-friendly type.

Several air quality sensors throughout the capital showed pollution reaching highest levels around the night hours to extremely hazardous measurements seen during the festival in at least three years.

International Implications

The widespread use of pyrotechnics during the festival also sparked a controversy with bordering the neighboring country, with representatives in Pakistani Punjab pointing to deteriorating pollution levels in Lahore on hazardous particles traveling from neighboring India following the celebrations.

Chronic Environmental Issue

Alarmingly severe levels of pollution in the capital have persisted as a serious problem for fifteen-plus years, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

During the festival period, the amount of dangerous particulate matter in the air has been found to spike to seventy percent above the most severe levels ever recorded in the Chinese city, which was formerly viewed as the planet's dirtiest city.

Multiple Contamination Factors

This crisis in the capital is attributed to a mix of different contributors including transportation pollution, dust, construction activities, waste incineration and smoke from crop residue ignition in neighbouring areas of neighboring agricultural zones.

Within these states, agricultural workers regularly set their fields on fire to clear them quickly, producing dangerous pollution that then gets trapped over the metropolitan area as winter air descends.

Public Health and Economic Consequences

Public health and economic toll on the approximately 33 million inhabitants living in the Delhi area is substantial, according to multiple studies.

These hazardous conditions leads to increased incidence of neurological, heart and circulatory and respiratory conditions, and can result in oncological diseases.

The pollution is projected to be responsible for 10,000 premature deaths per year in Delhi.