Arvind Kejriwal's Sharp Takedown Of Rekha Gupta's "AQI Is A Temperature" Remark

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's remarks about the government using mist sprayers to contain pollution at hotspots has drawn a stinging response from her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal. In a post on social media platform X, Kejriwal has said Gupta's comments made it clear that the government is working to "hide" the pollution data. He also took a dig at the Chief Minister's assertion that AQI "is like temperature", questioning "When did this new science come about that AQI has now become temperature".

"The Chief Minister has at least accepted that wherever AQI monitors are installed, water spraying is being done there so that the truth about pollution doesn't reach the people of Delhi. In other words, a game is underway to hide the data and show "clean air"," read a rough translation of his vernacular post.

In an interview, Gupta was asked about opposition allegations of water being sprayed on air monitors in hotspots to fudge pollution data. 

"Tell me, what is a hotspot? A hotspot is where there's the most pollution. Right? What's the solution? You spray there, you water it. You work to improve the soil. So, you'll spray only on the hotspot," she had responded.

"Does using a monitor bring down the AQI? AQI is like a temperature which you can know from any instrument, so watering it is the only solution which we are also doing," she had added.

The Chief Minister's comment came amid a heated debate on why the government's AQI figures are not reflecting a deterioration in air quality, even though pollution is getting worse. 

The Opposition Aam Aadmi Party has repeatedly claimed that the government is presenting fake figures -- a claim the BJP has denied. Gupta had branded the national capital's winter pollution a "legacy" problem.

The political battle heated up after Gupta said earlier this month that the Delhi government is planning to deploy mist spray technology to combat air pollution. The government, she said, will install 305 mist sprayers at nine pollution hotspots in the city.

"As soon as pollution increases, the government shuts down AQI monitoring stations. Wherever AQI is high, spraying is being done around those AQI monitoring stations... People are troubled and stunned to see that major institutions are involved in this tampering, and that the fraud is happening openly... The government's intention is not to reduce pollution but to reduce its figures," said senior AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj.

"The BJP got water to be sprinkled on AQI monitors to lower the readings. The BJP is manipulating the data... This lowers the BJP's integrity and credibility... Even the BJP people should be here with us, but they are sitting at home with their air purifiers," said AAP spokesperson Priya Kakkar.

Delhi gets enveloped in a toxic blanket after Diwali every year. This year, the development has been late in coming. But over the past couple of weeks, the air quality has swung between "poor" and "very poor" levels.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI between 0 and 50 is classified "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor" and 401 and 500 "severe".