🔗 Share this article

Tuesday brought inhabitants of the planet's dirtiest urban center encountered inhaling extremely polluted air that registered in the "severe" range.

Alarming Air Quality Readings

Various sections of the capital registered an AQI above 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the safe limit set by the WHO.

In some locations, readings of PM2.5 and PM10 reached peaks of eighteen hundred, equating to fifteen to twenty times higher than safe standards.

Fireworks Prohibition and Current Developments

Beginning in 2020, officials had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the sale and use of firecrackers during Diwali due to their major role to the hazardous pollution that engulfs the city as colder weather sets in.

Nevertheless in recent months, the newly elected regional government petitioned the highest court to seek a modification of the prohibition.

The suggestion was allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – previously doubted by environmental experts as being only roughly 30 percent lower impact – as a balance between "tradition and environment".

Court Decision and Enforcement

To the disappointment of medical and ecological advocates, judicial authorities agreed to the appeal, stipulating that green firecrackers could be set off during limited time windows throughout the Diwali.

Throughout the festival evening, there was widespread flouting of the time restrictions across the metropolis, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the supposedly greener version.

Numerous monitoring devices throughout the capital registered air quality peaking around the night hours to some of the worst levels observed during the festival in at least the past three years.

International Consequences

The widespread use of fireworks during Diwali also triggered a dispute with bordering Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistani Punjab partially attributing deteriorating pollution levels in Lahore on hazardous particles traveling from across the border following the events.

Long-Standing Pollution Problem

The dangerously high concentrations of air contamination in the capital have remained as a significant problem for more than 15 years, with the problem continuing to worsen.

Around the festival period, the concentration of toxic particles in the environment has been observed to shoot up to significantly exceeding the most severe records ever recorded in Beijing, which was previously regarded as the globally most contaminated city.

Multiple Pollution Sources

This crisis in the city is resulting from a combination of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, dust, development work, garbage fires and smoke from crop residue ignition in neighbouring areas of Punjab and Haryana.

In these regions, farmers regularly set their fields on fire to prepare for next season, creating hazardous pollution that remains stagnant over the city as winter air arrives.

Health and Economic Impact

The economic and health toll on the nearly 33 million people living in the capital region is substantial, according to numerous research.

The contaminated air results in increased incidence of nervous system, cardiovascular and lung disorders, and can result in oncological diseases.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be accounting for ten thousand early fatalities annually in the capital.