October 2026 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has strongly objected to the BJP government’s decision to install air quality monitoring stations in green and sparsely populated areas, alleging that the move is intended to conceal Delhi’s actual pollution levels.
AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the government of setting up monitoring stations in forested areas to make the capital’s pollution appear less severe. He alleged that the government was not interested in reducing pollution but was instead trying to mislead the people of Delhi.
Bharadwaj questioned Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa over the decision to install new Air Quality Index (AQI) monitoring stations in greener and less polluted locations. He also asked why crores of rupees had been spent on cloud seeding and whether the government would once again deploy water tankers to spray water around AQI monitoring stations.
Raising questions over the selection of locations for the new stations, Bharadwaj said the government was installing them in green and relatively vacant areas of Delhi.
He cited locations such as Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Commonwealth Games Village, Chhawla, Ghumanhera, Jharoda Kalan and Ghonda. According to him, these areas have less traffic congestion, limited dust and dirt, and substantial green cover.
Bharadwaj alleged that the BJP government was following a pattern similar to what he claimed had been done with the Yamuna river. He said that around Chhath Puja, clean water was released from Haryana to dilute the river water temporarily, after which the government claimed that pollution had declined.
He alleged that the installation of AQI monitoring stations in greener locations was now being used to lower Delhi’s average AQI readings rather than address pollution at its source.
“The government is not reducing pollution,” Bharadwaj alleged, referring to the previous year’s incidents in which, he claimed, water tankers had sprayed water around monitoring stations, including those in Anand Vihar. He said the AAP had highlighted the incidents at the time.
Accusing the BJP government of staging publicity exercises instead of taking substantive action, Bharadwaj said the authorities were attempting to mislead people in Delhi and across the country. He maintained that the government needed to focus on reducing pollution rather than managing public perceptions of air quality.
The AAP leader also criticised the government’s cloud-seeding initiative, recalling that Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa had made major announcements about using the technique to combat Delhi’s pollution.
Bharadwaj alleged that crores of rupees had been wasted on the initiative. He claimed that the Central government had informed the Delhi government in writing that cloud seeding was not feasible during the winter season in the capital.
Despite these concerns, he alleged, the BJP government proceeded with the exercise merely to create an impression that it was taking action against pollution.
Calling on the government to stop what he described as publicity-driven exercises, Bharadwaj urged it to take practical and effective measures to improve Delhi’s air quality.
He demanded answers from Environment Minister Sirsa on three specific questions concerning the government’s pollution-control strategy.
First, why are the new AQI monitoring stations being installed in green and relatively less polluted areas rather than locations that better reflect the capital’s pollution burden?
Second, why were crores of rupees spent on cloud seeding when experts had already questioned its practical feasibility during Delhi’s winter season?
Third, will the government once again deploy water tankers to spray water around AQI monitoring stations?
Bharadwaj said the government must explain its decisions and demonstrate that its measures are aimed at genuinely reducing pollution rather than making the city’s air quality figures appear better.
