🔗 Share this article

As Tuesday dawned inhabitants of this heavily contaminated metropolis encountered breathing dangerously toxic air that fell into the "critical" category.

Extremely High Air Quality Levels

Multiple areas of the city recorded an pollution measurement over 500, which translates to 10x the recommended limit set by the global health authority.

Certain monitoring stations, concentrations of toxic particulate matter hit highs of 1800, equating to 15 to 20 times above healthy limits.

Pyrotechnics Restrictions and Current Changes

Beginning in 2020, authorities had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during Diwali due to their major role to the deadly haze that engulfs the metropolis as colder weather approaches.

However recently, the current local administration petitioned the supreme court to seek a modification of the ban.

Officials advocated for allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – historically questioned by environmentalists as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a compromise between "cultural practices and environment".

Court Verdict and Implementation

To the disappointment of public health and environmental activists, judges approved the request, mandating that green firecrackers could be ignited during specific periods throughout the festival.

Throughout the festival evening, there was extensive violation of the regulated periods across the metropolis, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the supposedly greener variety.

Several monitoring devices throughout the city registered air quality reaching highest levels around late evening to the most severe measurements observed during the festival in at least the past three years.

Cross-Border Consequences

The proliferation of pyrotechnics during Diwali also sparked a dispute with neighbouring Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistani Punjab partially attributing worsening pollution levels in Lahore on hazardous particles originating in across the border following the events.

Long-Standing Pollution Crisis

The dangerously high concentrations of air contamination in the capital have remained as a major problem for over a decade and a half, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Around Diwali, the concentration of dangerous airborne contaminants in the environment has been documented to shoot up to significantly exceeding the worst records ever recorded in Beijing, which was once regarded as the world's most polluted urban center.

Diverse Contamination Sources

The situation in the city is attributed to a combination of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, construction debris, construction activities, rubbish burning and smoke from farm burning in nearby regions of Punjab and Haryana.

Within these states, rural residents routinely burn crop residue to expedite field preparation, creating hazardous smog that remains stagnant over the capital as winter air descends.

Health and Economic Impact

Public health and economic impact on the approximately 33 million residents living in the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to numerous investigations.

These hazardous conditions causes elevated rates of neurological, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and can potentially cause oncological diseases.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be responsible for ten thousand early fatalities each year in the city.