Air quality monitors across the capital became blinded after pollution levels eclipsed their maximum calibrated ceiling of 1,000 micrograms per cubic metre following holiday fireworks. Opposition figures from the Congress party and Aam Aadmi Party accused regulators of deliberately suppressing public data during the crisis. The Central Pollution Control Board denied fraud, clarifying that software automatically excludes out-of-range figures during rare severe spikes. Official metrics remained absent for roughly eight hours before reporting PM2.5 levels that still remained dozens of times above global safety baselines.
Key points
Regulators explained that automatic validation protocols omit extreme readings that excee…: Regulators explained that automatic validation protocols omit extreme readings that exceed the calibrated design capacity of monitoring hardware.
Opposition politicians alleged intentional data concealment after monitoring gaps obscure…: Opposition politicians alleged intentional data concealment after monitoring gaps obscured the true severity of the toxic pollution spike.
Post-blackout measurements confirmed that air pollution still exceeded World Health Organ…: Post-blackout measurements confirmed that air pollution still exceeded World Health Organization daily safety standards by more than 58 times.
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NEW DELHI: India's air pollution monitors were overwhelmed this week by toxic smog so severe that concentrations exceeded their upper measurement limit, equivalent to 66 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum, regulators said.
The admission comes after opposition politicians accused authorities of deliberately allowing gaps in official readings for several hours overnight Sunday into Monday, just as pollution surged with a barrage of fireworks for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
New Delhi is one of the world's most polluted capitals, where winter smog from vehicle emissions, farm fires and industry already chokes millions.
But the missing readings meant official data failed to capture the full extent of the pollution at its worst.
"The government which shuts down air quality monitoring stations on the night of Diwali, the government that does data fraud, how will you trust such a government?" Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj said in a video posted on X.
"If Diwali night's PM2.5 (toxic particulates) is not in the record, who will answer for that air?" senior Congress party lawmaker Ajay Maken…
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