Signal No. HM-RE007
Make It Make Sense
New Delhi's air monitor got a good wash. Why depends on whom you ask.
Reported
Dear Mamdani, in the worst of the smog, water tankers were seen spraying near the air quality monitor at Anand Vihar.
The opposition called it fraud. The authorities called it routine dust control. We can't tell you what anyone intended, and neither can the reporting we have read.
We can only report that the machine that measures the air had a very pleasant afternoon. We would like to stand wherever the water is. Our lungs have asked for the same service level.
The facts
- In October 2025, a viral video showed tankers spraying mist around the Anand Vihar monitoring station. A Tribune reporter also saw sprinkling close to the equipment.
- AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj called it "pollution data fraud". BJP and municipal officials deny this, and say it is routine dust control under the city's pollution action plan.
- Readings fell in the hour the sprinklers were reportedly active, but the report does not prove that the spraying caused the drop or that anyone intended it.
Sources
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