Multiple air quality monitoring stations in the capital stopped reporting data during peak Diwali pollution hours on Sunday night.
The reliability of official Air Quality Index (AQI) figures in Delhi is under scrutiny after several monitoring stations went offline during peak firecracker use on Sunday night, according to reports by Rediff, Deccan Chronicle, and Deccan Herald.
An analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) showed that between midnight and 2 am on Monday, over 20 stations failed to provide data. The number of stations with missing readings rose from one at 7 pm on Sunday to 36 by 1 am on Monday, leaving only 23 of the city's 59 stations active at that time.
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), described the lack of real-time data during the peak pollution period as inexplicable given the public funds invested in the network. She noted that losing data does not lessen the public health emergency.
Discrepancies were noted between official figures and private agencies. While official data showed an AQI of 370 at 8 am on Monday, the platform AQI.in recorded a hazardous reading of 637.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the Delhi government of manipulating readings to downplay pollution levels. In response, Delhi cabinet minister Kapil Mishra told reporters he would seek action after being provided with details of the non-functional stations.
