As Delhi continues to choke on toxic air, India Today’s ground investigation across multiple air quality monitoring stations has uncovered widespread negligence, from malfunctioning display boards and questionable placement of sensors to discrepancies between on-ground readings and official data.

While the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) official claimed all 39 of Delhi’s air monitoring stations are functional, reality on the ground paints a very different picture. Across the city, from Narela to Shahdara and Punjabi Bagh to RK Puram, several display boards meant to inform the public about local pollution levels were either defunct, hidden, or placed amid greenery.

NARELA: CLEAN AIR AMID GREENERY

In outer Delhi’s Narela, the air quality monitoring station has been installed inside the ITI campus — surrounded by dense greenery. The display board here is non-functional, and what’s more, an anti-smog gun was found operating right in front of the station during India Today’s visit.

ITI students said the display board was unreadable, leaving residents with no way to see live data.

"It has been over two months and the board has been like this," one ITI student said. Another added that they rely on media for AQI data.

MCD staffer Dayachand was overseeing the cleaning work and sprinkling in the area. He admitted that cleaning around the site had intensified “a day or two ago.” Water being sprinkled near monitoring station in Narela.