🔗 Share this article

Tuesday brought residents of this heavily contaminated metropolis were faced with breathing extremely polluted air that was classified as the "critical" category.

Extremely High Air Quality Measurements

Several parts of the city recorded an air quality index above 500, which represents ten times the safe limit recommended by the global health authority.

In some locations, concentrations of toxic particulate matter hit highs of 1,800, amounting to 15-20x higher than healthy limits.

Firecracker Ban and New Policy Shifts

Since 2020, authorities had implemented a complete ban on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during celebrations due to their major role to the deadly smog that engulfs the capital as winter sets in.

Yet recently, the recently formed regional government appealed to the highest court to seek a easing of the prohibition.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been questioned by conservation groups as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a middle ground between "tradition and environment".

Legal Decision and Reality

Much to the frustration of environmental and health activists, judges complied with the proposal, specifying that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be used during specific time windows throughout the festival.

During the celebrations, there was widespread violation of the designated hours across the city, with little enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the more environmentally friendly type.

Several monitoring devices throughout the city showed pollution reaching highest levels around late evening to some of the worst levels observed during Diwali in at least three years.

Regional Consequences

The proliferation of firecrackers during the celebrations also triggered a blame game with bordering the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistani Punjab partially attributing deteriorating atmospheric conditions in their urban centers on hazardous particles originating in neighboring India following the festivities.

Long-Standing Pollution Problem

Extremely elevated levels of pollution in the city have continued as a significant challenge for more than 15 years, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

During Diwali, the levels of hazardous particulate matter in the air has been observed to spike to 70% higher the most severe readings ever documented in China's capital, which was once considered as the planet's dirtiest urban center.

Diverse Pollution Factors

The problem in the capital is caused by a combination of various sources including automobile exhaust, construction debris, construction activities, garbage fires and haze from agricultural fires in neighbouring regions of neighboring agricultural zones.

In these regions, agricultural workers regularly burn crop residue to clear them quickly, producing dangerous smog that remains stagnant over the capital as winter air sets in.

Medical and Financial Impact

Public health and economic consequences on the approximately 33 million residents calling home the Delhi area is enormous, according to numerous research.

This pollution leads to increased incidence of neurological, cardiovascular and breathing conditions, and can potentially cause oncological diseases.

Environmental contamination is calculated to be causing 10,000 early fatalities per year in the city.