At peak of air pollution on Deepavali night, data goes missing at several govt monitoring stations in Delhi

People commute shrouded in thick smog during early morning hours after Deepavali night in New Delhi on November 09, 2026.

At the peak of pollution, following the bursting of firecrackers on Deepavali night, air quality data was missing from several monitoring stations managed by government authorities, raising questions over the actual air pollution levels.

Air quality readings went blank for several stations for many hours, as per websites of the Delhi government’s Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the Central government’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Data of PM2.5 was missing for several hours for many stations in Delhi including Anand Vihar, Patparganj, Bawana, among others, as per DPCC’s website.

PM2.5 (Particulate matter 2.5) are fine inhalable particles, which can get into lungs and bloodstream and lead to a range of respiratory and other diseases.

Last year also, data went missing from many stations in a similar way during Deepavali.

Manoj Kumar, analyst, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a Finland-based non-profit research organisation, said that missing hourly PM2.5 data “raises concerns” over Delhi’s air quality assessment.

“Since midnight on November 8 until 5 a.m. on November 9, 227 hourly PM2.5 observations were missing across 59 CPCB monitoring stations in Delhi. Only 14 stations reported complete data, while the remaining 45 had at least one missing hourly observation,” Mr. Kumar said.

“When the hourly PM2.5 data is missing, it will artificially lower the Air Quality Index (AQI), showing better air quality, when the actual air quality is worse,” he added.

When asked about air quality data in Delhi missing in several monitoring stations, Delhi Labour Minister Kapil Mishra told the media that the government will look into the issue within an hour and inform the media about it.

Before the data went missing for two hours, the level of PM2.5 (a major pollutant) in Patparganj was 2,597 micrograms per cubic meter at 1 a.m. on Monday (November 9, 2026) - about 173.13 times the WHO permissible limit - of 15 micrograms per cubic meter for a 24-hour period.

Similarly, after data went missing for three hours, the level of PM2.5 in Anand Vihar was 1,396 micrograms per cubic meter at 3 a.m. on Monday — about 93.06 times the WHO permissible limit.

Meanwhile, in the CPCB website, the data for PM2.5 seemed to be capped at 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter, showing more gaps in data than the DPCC website.

Meanwhile, both the AAP and the Congress attacked the BJP government over the missing data, with the former alleging that it was “data fraud”. Hitting back, Mr. Mishra alleged that there was a “conspiracy” by AAP-governed Punjab to set stubble on fire in Punjab on Sunday (November 8, 2026) evening.