AAP’s Saurabh Bhardwaj Alleges Delhi Pollution Monitoring Stations ‘Stopped Working’ on Diwali Night

By A Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI — Delhi Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) President Saurabh Bhardwaj on Wednesday accused authorities of deliberately shutting down pollution monitoring stations as air quality levels deteriorated sharply on Diwali night.

Speaking to reporters, Bhardwaj questioned the sudden malfunctioning of several key air quality monitors managed by different government agencies. “How did the government's pollution monitoring stations become non-operational as soon as pollution began to rise on Diwali night?” he asked.

He claimed that four monitoring networks — those operated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) — had multiple stations that went offline simultaneously. “A dozen monitoring stations from these four institutions stopped working at night and have been out of action since the wind picked up in the morning,” Bhardwaj said.

Calling it “theft and dishonesty,” he accused the authorities of misleading citizens by concealing real-time air quality data during one of the most polluted nights of the year. “They are being dishonest with the people of Delhi,” he alleged.