š Share this article India's capital Rises to Toxic Haze After Festival of Lights On Tuesday morning inhabitants of this heavily contaminated metropolis encountered exposed to extremely polluted air that registered in the "alarming" level. Extremely High Air Quality Levels Various sections of the city registered an pollution measurement above 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the recommended limit set by the WHO. In some locations, concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 soared to of 1,800, amounting to 15-20x higher than safe levels. Fireworks Prohibition and New Changes Since 2020, the government had enforced a complete ban on the sale and use of firecrackers during the Festival of Lights due to their substantial impact to the hazardous haze that blankets the city as colder weather sets in. Yet earlier this year, the recently formed city leadership petitioned the supreme court to seek a modification of the ban. The suggestion was allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" ā previously questioned by conservation groups as being only about 30% less polluting ā as a middle ground between "heritage and environment". Court Verdict and Implementation Despite concerns of medical and ecological activists, judges agreed to the proposal, specifying that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be ignited during limited time windows throughout the celebrations. During the celebrations, there was considerable violation of the regulated periods across the capital, with minimal enforcement regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the eco-friendly variety. Several monitoring devices throughout Delhi showed air quality peaking around midnight to some of the worst readings observed during the festival in at least the past three years. International Implications The proliferation of firecrackers during the festival also triggered a controversy with neighbouring Pakistan, with officials in Pakistan's Punjab province partly blaming deteriorating air quality in Lahore on pollutants originating in neighboring India following the festivities. Persistent Environmental Crisis Extremely elevated concentrations of pollution in the capital have continued as a significant issue for over a decade and a half, with the condition continuing to worsen. Around the festival period, the concentration of dangerous particulate matter in the environment has been documented to spike to seventy percent above the worst readings ever documented in the Chinese city, which was formerly viewed as the world's most polluted metropolis. Diverse Contamination Factors This crisis in the city is resulting from a convergence of various sources including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, building projects, garbage fires and haze from agricultural fires in neighbouring areas of farming communities. In these regions, rural residents routinely burn crop residue to prepare for next season, creating hazardous smog that becomes contained over the capital as cooler air sets in. Medical and Financial Impact Both financial and medical consequences on the approximately 33 million residents calling home the Delhi area is substantial, according to numerous investigations. This pollution leads to elevated rates of neurological, heart and circulatory and breathing disorders, and can even lead to cancer. Environmental contamination is projected to be responsible for ten thousand untimely deaths per year in the city.