Delhi Air Quality update: Toxic air returns to Delhi as AQI slips to…, CPCB says air quality data can’t be manipulated due to…

CPCB has refuted allegations of manipulations in Delhi air quality data.

Delhi air quality update: The air quality in Delhi remained in the ‘very poor’ category on Wednesday even as the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) asserted that air quality data is immune to manipulation and cannot be tampered with by humans.

Delhi air quality remains ‘very poor’

According to CPCB data, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 335, in ‘very poor’ category, on Wednesday morning, with the surge in pollutant levels being attributed to weather conditions, such as calmer winds and low temperatures. On Monday, Delhi air quality slipped back to the ‘very poor’ category, day after the city’s AQI had improved to 279, moving to the ‘poor’ ranking after 24 days.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 to 500 ‘severe’, as per CPCB standards.

CPCB rejects manipulation claims

Meanwhile, CPCB has refuted allegations of manipulations in Delhi air quality data, stating that monitoring stations are automated and human intervention is nearly impossible.

“The monitoring and data collection is automated… the stations generate data every 15 minutes and AQI is calculated every hour, following which the average AQI is generated. These stations are not manual, and hence any kind of human intervention or manipulation is not possible,” CPCB Chairman Vir Vikram Yadav told reporters.

The CPCB’s response comes amid allegations against the city’s BJP government, which has been accused of attempting to manipulate air quality data by spraying water around air-quality monitoring stations to lower dire readings and even switching them off during key pollution periods – especially after firecrackers increased the pollution load during Diwali in October.

Responding to the allegations of sprinkling of water around monitoring stations to manipulate air quality data, Yadav said, “The monitoring stations have been set up after their locations were scientifically studied”.

Delhi has 39 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMs), the highest for any Indian city.

Delhi govt accused of manipulating AQI data

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had alleged that most applications on people’s mobile phones were taking data from the government’s air quality monitoring stations, while the data of these stations is being manipulated.

AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bhardwaj had claimed that MCD trucks were sprinkling water “day and night around” a few pollution monitoring stations.

However, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has rejected these allegations, and defended the air quality monitoring system in the national capital.

(With inputs)