🔗 Share this article India's capital Wakes Up to Dangerous Pollution After Festival of Lights Tuesday brought residents of this heavily contaminated metropolis encountered inhaling severely hazardous air that fell into the "alarming" category. Record-Breaking Pollution Levels Several parts of the city registered an AQI exceeding 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the recommended level recommended by the World Health Organization. In some locations, readings of PM2.5 and PM10 soared to of 1,800, equating to 15-20x higher than acceptable levels. Pyrotechnics Ban and Current Changes For the past four years, the government had enforced a complete ban on the distribution and bursting of fireworks during the Festival of Lights due to their substantial impact to the dangerous haze that blankets the capital as the cold season sets in. Nevertheless recently, the recently formed regional administration petitioned the judicial authority to seek a relaxation of the ban. They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – which have been questioned by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a middle ground between "tradition and environment". Judicial Ruling and Enforcement Despite concerns of environmental and health campaigners, the court complied with the proposal, specifying that environmentally conscious fireworks could be set off during designated time windows throughout the Diwali. Throughout the festival evening, there was widespread flouting of the regulated periods across the metropolis, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the supposedly greener variety. Many air quality sensors throughout Delhi registered pollution peaking around the night hours to some of the worst readings recorded during the festival in at least recent memory. International Effects The widespread use of pyrotechnics during the festival also initiated a dispute with bordering Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistan's the Punjab region partially attributing declining pollution levels in their urban centers on contaminants originating in India following the festivities. Long-Standing Environmental Issue The dangerously high levels of atmospheric toxins in the city have persisted as a major problem for fifteen-plus years, with the problem showing no improvement. Around the festival period, the levels of dangerous particles in the environment has been found to shoot up to seventy percent above the peak readings ever recorded in Beijing, which was previously viewed as the world's most polluted metropolis. Multiple Pollution Factors The problem in the city is resulting from a combination of various sources including automobile exhaust, airborne particles, construction activities, garbage fires and smoke from agricultural fires in adjacent areas of Punjab and Haryana. Within these states, farmers regularly burn crop residue to prepare for next season, generating hazardous smog that then gets trapped over the capital as cooler air sets in. Health and Financial Toll Both financial and medical toll on the nearly 33 million inhabitants residing in the Delhi area is enormous, according to various studies. These hazardous conditions leads to elevated rates of nervous system, cardiovascular and breathing disorders, and can result in oncological diseases. Air quality crisis is calculated to be causing 10,000 early deaths per year in the city.