AAP accuses govt. of ‘hiding’ Deepavali night pollution data

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday accused the Delhi government of shutting down air pollution monitors and manipulating data on Deepavali night to “hide” the city’s real air quality index (AQI) levels.

On the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, after firecrackers were set off across the city, key data from most air pollution monitoring stations were not available for several hours on the website of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

On Tuesday, several experts and activists had questioned the “authenticity” of the government data, with many stressing that the actual AQI level might have been higher than what the government had stated as readings during peak pollution were unavailable.

“Today’s Hindi and English newspapers are filled with reports that the BJP government concealed and manipulated pollution data. As pollution levels began to rise on Deepavali night, the government’s pollution monitoring stations mysteriously shut down on their own. How is it possible that multiple stations went offline at the same time?” AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

“Dozens of their stations went offline at night and remained closed until the wind started blowing the next morning. Once the air began to move, these stations were suddenly switched back on. This is blatant dishonesty and data theft, and against whom? Against the people of Delhi,” he added.

The Opposition party also demanded an apology from Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa for “insulting” Sikhs by blaming Punjab for air pollution in the Capital.

No data missing: Sirsa

On Tuesday, Mr. Sirsa had accused the AAP government in Punjab of forcing farmers to burn stubble. He claimed that the increase in stubble burning incidents in the neighbouring State close to Deepavali was “no coincidence”. He added that there is “no missing data”, but did not elaborate on the issue.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said the statements made by AAP are “misleading”.