🔗 Share this article

Tuesday brought residents of the world's most polluted city found themselves inhaling extremely polluted air that fell into the "alarming" category.

Extremely High Air Quality Levels

Several parts of the city showed an AQI above 500, which translates to a tenfold increase over the safe level established by the World Health Organization.

In some locations, readings of PM2.5 and PM10 soared to of 1,800, amounting to fifteen to twenty times above acceptable standards.

Fireworks Restrictions and New Policy Shifts

Beginning in 2020, the government had implemented a comprehensive restriction on the sale and use of firecrackers during celebrations due to their major role to the hazardous haze that engulfs the capital as colder weather begins.

However recently, the newly elected city leadership petitioned the supreme court to request a easing of the prohibition.

Officials advocated for allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – previously questioned by conservation groups as being only about 30% lower impact – as a balance between "tradition and public health".

Judicial Verdict and Reality

Much to the frustration of public health and environmental campaigners, the court agreed to the proposal, specifying that environmentally conscious fireworks could be set off during specific time windows throughout the Diwali.

During the celebrations, there was extensive disregard of the regulated periods across the capital, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener variety.

Several monitoring devices throughout the capital recorded pollution spiking around late evening to extremely hazardous readings seen during Diwali in at least three years.

Cross-Border Effects

The widespread use of fireworks during the celebrations also initiated a dispute with neighbouring the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistani Punjab province partly blaming declining atmospheric conditions in the city of Lahore on pollutants coming from neighboring India following the festivities.

Persistent Environmental Problem

Extremely elevated concentrations of air contamination in the capital have persisted as a serious problem for over a decade and a half, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Near the festival period, the amount of dangerous particulate matter in the environment has been documented to spike to significantly exceeding the peak records ever measured in Beijing, which was once considered as the world's most polluted city.

Various Pollution Sources

The situation in Delhi is attributed to a convergence of various sources including heavy vehicle emissions, construction debris, development work, rubbish burning and haze from agricultural fires in neighbouring states of neighboring agricultural zones.

Throughout these areas, agricultural workers regularly burn crop residue to prepare for next season, producing toxic pollution that then gets trapped over the capital as cooler air arrives.

Medical and Financial Toll

Public health and economic toll on the approximately 33 million people living in the Delhi area is significant, according to various research.

This pollution results in high levels of nervous system, cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, and can even lead to malignancies.

Air quality crisis is estimated to be accounting for approximately 10k early fatalities per year in Delhi.