Dec 4, 2025: AQI in Vasant Kunj is significantly worse than official data

For today’s AQI, Newslaundry visited Vasant Kunj in South Delhi. The nearest air quality monitoring station at Sri Aurobindo Marg, operated by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, showed an AQI reading of 283 at 9 am, which falls in the ‘Poor’ category. But when we deployed our portable air quality monitor, the AQI recorded was 412, which falls in the ‘Severe’ category.  

The latest ‘step’ the Delhi government has taken to address the never-ending problem of toxic air in the national capital is to repair all potholes in the next three days, claimed its environment minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, on Wednesday. 

An IIT-Delhi study published last year showed that paving unpaved roads, repairing potholes, and fixing broken footpaths/dividers can reduce PM 2.5 levels by 15 percent to 26 percent. The study was conducted at three air pollution hotspots in Jahangirpuri, Rohini and Karol Bagh. Researchers relied on portable, low-cost sensors and government air monitoring stations to assess air quality. 

Watch. 

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