🔗 Share this article

Tuesday brought citizens of this heavily contaminated metropolis found themselves exposed to severely hazardous air that registered in the "severe" category.

Record-Breaking Air Quality Measurements

Various sections of the capital showed an air quality index above 500, which translates to ten times the safe limit recommended by the global health authority.

Particular areas, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles soared to of 1800, amounting to 15-20x above safe standards.

Fireworks Prohibition and Recent Policy Shifts

For the past four years, authorities had maintained a complete ban on the sale and use of pyrotechnics during the Festival of Lights due to their significant contribution to the deadly haze that engulfs the metropolis as winter approaches.

However earlier this year, the current local leadership petitioned the supreme court to propose a relaxation of the ban.

Officials advocated for allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been criticized by environmentalists as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a compromise between "heritage and environment".

Court Decision and Implementation

To the disappointment of medical and ecological campaigners, judicial authorities complied with the appeal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be used during specific time windows throughout the celebrations.

On Monday night, there was considerable flouting of the designated hours across the city, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the more environmentally friendly type.

Many air quality sensors throughout the capital registered air quality spiking around late evening to the most severe measurements recorded during Diwali in at least the past three years.

Cross-Border Effects

Extensive ignition of pyrotechnics during Diwali also initiated a dispute with bordering the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province partially attributing worsening atmospheric conditions in Lahore on hazardous particles traveling from neighboring India following the festivities.

Chronic Environmental Crisis

Extremely elevated levels of pollution in the city have remained as a serious issue for over a decade and a half, with the problem showing no improvement.

Near Diwali, the levels of dangerous particles in the atmosphere has been documented to shoot up to seventy percent above the most severe records ever measured in Beijing, which was formerly considered as the planet's dirtiest city.

Various Pollution Contributors

The problem in the capital is attributed to a mix of various sources including transportation pollution, dust, development work, rubbish burning and pollutants from agricultural fires in neighbouring areas of farming communities.

Within these states, rural residents regularly ignite agricultural waste to expedite field preparation, generating dangerous smog that becomes contained over the metropolitan area as winter air sets in.

Medical and Economic Toll

Public health and economic toll on the nearly 33 million inhabitants residing in the capital region is enormous, according to multiple studies.

This pollution causes high levels of neurological, heart and circulatory and breathing diseases, and can potentially cause malignancies.

Environmental contamination is projected to be accounting for approximately 10k premature fatalities annually in the city.