Delhi’s air quality stayed in the 'very poor' category on Saturday morning with an AQI of 348. Thick smog covered many areas, while North Campus and IIT Delhi hit the 'severe' level. AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged data manipulation, saying, "CREA showed that the pollution shown was 49 per cent higher."
New Delhi: Delhi's air quality remained in the 'very poor' category on Saturday morning, with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 348 at 7:05 am, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). A thick layer of smog continued to engulf several parts of the national capital during the early morning hours.
According to the data recorded at 7 am, PM10 and PM2.5 remained the major pollutants across the national capital. Several monitoring stations recorded AQI levels in the 'severe' category. North Campus recorded an AQI of 421, followed by IIT Delhi at 419, ITO at 415 and Burari Crossing at 410.
Other monitoring stations reported air quality in the 'very poor' category, with Chandni Chowk recording an AQI of 392 and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) registering 390. Anand Vihar recorded an AQI of 379, while Chhawla registered 352. The AQI at the inner and outer circles of Connaught Place stood at 326, while Maidan Garhi recorded 300.
The Commission for Air Quality Management ordered GRAP 3 in NCR and adjoining areas on November 6. Meanwhile, the Delhi government has been undertaking pollution-control measures to minimise the impact of particulate matter, including deploying water sprinklers across the state.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Wednesday said cloud seeding trials were ongoing under the supervision of IIT Kanpur and that details regarding their implementation and possible rainfall would be shared once the study was completed and yielded positive results.
However, on Thursday, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj targeted the BJP over the severe rise in pollution levels in Delhi following Diwali celebrations and questioned the credibility of the CPCB readings of the city's AQI data levels, describing this act as a fraud against the 2 crore people of the city.
Speaking to ANI, Saurabh Bharadwaj, citing a CREA report, alleged data manipulation in Delhi pollution levels, claiming that the actual figures were 49 per cent higher than what was officially displayed on government website readings. "Today, many newspapers completely exposed the Delhi government and the Central Pollution Control Board. CREA showed that the pollution shown for Delhi was 49 per cent higher than what you were told -- meaning it was almost one and a half times higher. So, if I put this into AQI terms, the AQI shown as 370 was actually 560, or maybe even higher. Why? Because the data they gave us yesterday when we met the CPCB was ridiculous. The CPCB said that when our pollution level hits 999, we don't even consider that level, because we can't measure above 999 and we don't display 999. So it's just shown as zero. So this fraud done with pollution wasn't just done with the numbers, but with the health of our kids, our elders, and the two crore people of Delhi," said Bharadwaj.