Government monitoring stations go blank on Deepavali night as Delhi pollution hits extreme levels

UPDATE - follow-up to At peak of air pollution on Deepavali night, data goes missing at several govt monitoring stations in Delhi: Air quality data vanished from multiple government monitoring stations in Delhi at the peak of pollution following Deepavali night firecrackers. Readings went blank for several hours on websites run by both the Delhi Pollution Control Committee and the Central Pollution Control Board.

Missing Data And Levels

Missing PM2.5 data affected stations including Anand Vihar, Patparganj, and Bawana. CREA analyst Manoj Kumar noted that 227 hourly PM2.5 observations were missing across 59 CPCB stations in Delhi between midnight on November 8 and 5 a.m. on November 9, with only 14 stations reporting full data. He explained that missing hourly data artificially lowers the Air Quality Index to show better air quality than what actually exists. Before the gap, Patparganj hit 2,597 micrograms per cubic metre at 1 a.m. on Monday, which is 173 times the WHO limit of 15. Anand Vihar touched 1,396 micrograms per cubic metre at 3 a.m., reaching 93 times the limit. The CPCB public portal also capped readings at 1,000 micrograms per cubic metre, hiding extreme pollution levels.

Official Response And Political Clash

Delhi Labour Minister Kapil Mishra told the media that the government would look into the issue within an hour and report back. The missing numbers sparked a political row, with the AAP and the Congress accusing the BJP government of data fraud. In response, Mr. Mishra claimed there was a conspiracy by AAP-governed Punjab to set stubble on fire on Sunday evening.

Context

This issue points to gaps in environmental monitoring during peak pollution events like Deepavali when high smoke levels test public reporting infrastructure. Similar data dropouts occurred during last year's festival season as well. Citizens rely on these continuous updates to make safe daily choices during peak smog periods.