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As Tuesday dawned citizens of the world's most polluted city were faced with breathing severely hazardous air that fell into the "alarming" category.

Extremely High Pollution Levels

Multiple areas of the city recorded an air quality index above 500, which equals ten times the healthy level recommended by the World Health Organization.

In some locations, readings of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of 1800, amounting to 15-20x above acceptable standards.

Pyrotechnics Restrictions and Recent Policy Shifts

Since 2020, authorities had maintained a complete ban on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during celebrations due to their major role to the hazardous haze that covers the city as the cold season approaches.

Nevertheless in recent months, the current city government approached the judicial authority to request a modification of the restrictions.

The suggestion was allowing "green crackers" – previously criticized by conservation groups as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a compromise between "cultural practices and public health".

Judicial Decision and Implementation

Despite concerns of medical and ecological advocates, judges complied with the appeal, stipulating that environmentally conscious fireworks could be ignited during designated time windows throughout the Diwali.

During the celebrations, there was widespread disregard of the time restrictions across the metropolis, with minimal monitoring regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the eco-friendly type.

Several recording stations throughout the city showed contamination peaking around midnight to some of the worst levels seen during celebrations in at least the past three years.

Cross-Border Implications

The widespread use of fireworks during the festival also initiated a controversy with bordering the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistan's Punjab province partly blaming declining atmospheric conditions in Lahore on pollutants coming from neighboring India following the festivities.

Chronic Pollution Problem

Extremely elevated levels of pollution in the capital have persisted as a serious issue for over a decade and a half, with the condition gradually deteriorating.

Around the festival period, the concentration of hazardous particulate matter in the environment has been found to shoot up to 70% higher the worst records ever documented in Beijing, which was once regarded as the world's most polluted city.

Various Contamination Factors

The problem in the capital is attributed to a combination of different contributors including heavy vehicle emissions, dust, development work, waste incineration and haze from farm burning in neighbouring regions of farming communities.

Throughout these areas, agricultural workers regularly set their fields on fire to prepare for next season, creating toxic pollution that becomes contained over the city as winter air arrives.

Medical and Financial Impact

Both financial and medical consequences on the nearly 33 million residents calling home the metropolitan zone is substantial, according to numerous studies.

This pollution results in increased incidence of nervous system, heart and circulatory and breathing diseases, and can potentially cause cancer.

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