Ground still wet, air stays toxic: A reality check at Anand Vihar air monitor after water sprinkler video

Amid allegations of data manipulation by AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj and reports of water sprinklers circling air quality monitors, Newslaundry visited the Anand Vihar air monitoring station – one of Delhi’s most polluted spots – to verify the claims.

Bhardwaj had earlier posted a video showing two tankers spraying water around the sensors, accusing the Delhi government of trying to artificially lower AQI readings.

On Monday, no truck-mounted water sprinklers were seen near the station. Yet, the ground around it was still visibly wet. About 50 metres away, near the Anand Vihar bus terminal, a water truck driver said, “We’ve been instructed, since the video went viral, not to go there.”

Karamat, a 39-year-old who has been driving the truck for five years, said, “We make rounds at Anand Vihar bus terminal, Chaudhary Charan Singh Marg, among others.” Asked if they were assigned to spray near the monitoring station, he said, “We used to drive there earlier, but not since the video went viral.”

Newslaundry sent questions to the Delhi Jal Board. This report will be updated if a response is received. 

Meanwhile, data at the station suggested a discrepancy.

At 10 am today, the display outside the monitoring station showed PM 2.5 levels at 73 µg/m³. But the Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s own website, which runs the same station, showed 248 µg/m³ for the same period.

Asked about the mismatch, Bhupender Singh, Additional Director (Scientific) at DPCC, said, “Let me speak to the operator and find the root cause for this.”

‘I ask my wife to stay inside’

The air monitoring station is next to a metro station. 

Rohit Kumar, a security guard at the metro station for the past eight months, said the area outside the station looked like it had rained for the past few days. 

Nearby, Fariyad, a rickshaw-puller who delivers water cans, described the toll of Delhi’s air on his family. “I do not let my children go out to play. Even my wife, who suffers from asthma, tries to stay inside. After Diwali though, she has to go to the hospital every year as her health worsens. I don’t even let her drop or pick our children up.”

With a daughter in class 5 and a son in class 1, he claimed, “Their (the government’s) primary work is not tackling pollution but taking photos and making reels.”

For Suresh Pal, an auto driver with 20 years on Delhi’s roads, the pollution is both a constant and a mystery that no one seems willing to solve. “Pollution is not just in Delhi, it’s there in Uttar Pradesh too. Pollution comes from the construction work, from the tractor and trollies, from the wiring being burnt, from the garbage being burnt.”

Pointing out the smog, he said, “This is all from the garbage being burnt. Who will stop them? Nobody stops them.”

On being asked if his health gets affected, Pal said, “Eyes itch; coughing happens…just spraying water near the monitoring system or even on roads is not going to stop pollution. Go where the garbage is being burnt. Go where the construction work is happening.”

The capital’s air quality has hovered above the very poor category in the last few days. With artificial rain expected in the next two days, Delhi might get a breather if the emergency experiment works. 

This report is part of a collaborative campaign to tackle air pollution. Here’s howyou can join the Fight To Breathe. Click here to power this campaign.