New Delhi [India], February 10 : Raising questions over the credibility of Delhi's air quality data, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday objected to the BJP government's decision to install six new AQI monitoring stations in Delhi's green and open areas, calling it a deliberate attempt to manipulate pollution figures rather than reduce pollution on the ground.
AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said the intent of the BJP government led by Rekha Gupta was not to clean Delhi's air but to artificially lower AQI readings by shifting monitoring infrastructure to greener zones, thereby creating a false impression of improvement without taking substantive anti-pollution measures.
In a post on X, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj stated on X, "CM Rekha Gupta's new manipulation has come to the fore. The government has now installed new AQI monitoring stations in green and open areas. Without reducing pollution, the BJP government will manipulate AQI data and show lower pollution levels. Even the CAQM remains silent despite this manipulation, as all the IAS officers there are appointed by the Central Government. In Delhi, a system made by IAS officers for IAS officers is running."
This was not the first time the BJP government had made such a move. Earlier in April, the BJP government also installed new AQI monitoring stations in green areas, and the AAP strongly opposed it.
Then, Saurabh Bharadwaj held a press conference to highlight that the BJP government had decided to install stations at six new locations, all of which were either forested or green zones. "The surprising thing is that all these locations are forests or green areas, such as the Central Ridge near Civil Lines, the JNU campus, the forest behind IGNOU, the Yamuna riverbank near Akshardham, and the NSIT campus. There are no factories in these areas, little vehicle traffic, and few residents.
Where will pollution come from here? The BJP deliberately chose such locations so that pollution levels appear lower and people are made to believe that the air has become clean. This is a deception played on the people of Delhi," he had said.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor