Delhi’s air quality deteriorated sharply on Tuesday, with the city recording an average AQI of 350 and Jahangirpuri reporting 462, while the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that water was being sprayed over an air-quality monitoring station to reduce pollution readings. The allegation has not been independently established in the supplied report, and no response from the Delhi government or the monitoring authority was included.
According to Live Hindustan – NCR, the city’s average AQI was the worst recorded in the previous 287 days. Of Delhi’s 57 monitoring stations, 10 recorded air quality in the ‘severe’ category, 35 in the ‘very poor’ category and 12 in the ‘poor’ category. Jahangirpuri recorded the highest reading at 462, which falls in the severe category.
Saurabh Bhardwaj, Delhi president of the Aam Aadmi Party, claimed that the government was manipulating AQI readings by spraying water directly over monitoring stations. He shared a video and said the alleged activity was visible at the ITI Jahangirpuri monitoring location. According to the report, Bhardwaj claimed that water was being sprayed over the station rather than across the surrounding area, with the purpose of lowering the recorded pollution level.
Bhardwaj described the alleged practice as dangerous because residents, including children and older people, could rely on artificially lower readings and go outdoors despite unsafe air conditions. He also alleged that the government had added 20 monitoring stations in green areas to reduce the mathematical average of Delhi’s AQI. The supplied report does not include documentary evidence confirming that these stations were added for that purpose.
The allegation matters because air-quality monitoring data guides public communication and decisions during periods of hazardous pollution. AQI readings are used by residents to assess outdoor activity, by schools and workplaces to consider precautions, and by authorities to communicate the severity of prevailing conditions. Any deliberate alteration of readings, if established, would therefore affect more than a statistical record; it would undermine the reliability of a public-health warning system.
However, the material available for this report does not establish whether water was sprayed for AQI manipulation, whether the monitoring equipment was affected, or whether the reported activity followed an authorised maintenance or dust-control procedure. It also does not identify the agency responsible for the alleged spraying or provide a technical assessment of how such spraying would affect the station’s measurements.
The report attributes the allegation to Bhardwaj and reproduces his statements, including his claim that pollution could be substantially higher than the figure displayed. Those claims remain allegations in the absence of confirmation from the relevant pollution-control authority, an inspection record, technical documentation, or an official explanation from the Delhi government.
The immediate verified information in the supplied material is that Delhi experienced very poor to severe air quality on Tuesday, with Jahangirpuri recording an AQI of 462. The next key step is clarification from the authorities responsible for the monitoring stations on the reported water spraying, the station’s operating conditions and the basis for the city’s AQI calculations.
