People commute shrouded in thick smog during early morning hours after Deepavali night in New Delhi on November 09, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
At the peak of pollution, following the bursting of firecrackers on Deepavali night, air quality data was missing from several monitoring stations managed by government authorities, raising questions over the actual air pollution levels.
Air quality readings went blank for several stations for many hours, as per websites of the Delhi government’s Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the Central government’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Data of PM2.5 was missing for several hours for many stations in Delhi including Anand Vihar, Patparganj, Bawana, among others, as per DPCC’s website.
PM2.5 (Particulate matter 2.5) are fine inhalable particles, which can get into lungs and bloodstream and lead to a range of respiratory and other diseases.
Last year also, data went missing from many stations in a similar way during Deepavali.
DPCC data for Anand Vihar.
‘Show better air quality’
Manoj Kumar, analyst, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a Finland-based non-profit research organisation, said that missing hourly PM2.5 data “raises concerns” over Delhi’s air quality assessment.
“Since midnight on November 8 until 5 a.m. on November 9, 227 hourly PM2.5 observations were missing across 59 CPCB monitoring stations in Delhi. Only 14 stations reported complete data, while the remaining 45 had at least one missing hourly observation,” Mr. Kumar said.
“When the hourly PM2.5 data is missing, it will artificially lower the Air Quality Index (AQI), showing better air quality, when the actual air quality is worse,” he added.
When asked about air quality data in Delhi missing in several monitoring stations, Delhi Labour Minister Kapil Mishra told the media that the government will look into the issue within an hour and inform the media about it.
DPCC data for Patparganj.
Pollution 173 times WHO limit
Before the data went missing for two hours, the level of PM2.5 (a major pollutant) in Patparganj was 2,597 micrograms per cubic metre at 1 a.m. on Monday (November 9, 2026) – about 173.13 times the WHO permissible limit – of 15 micrograms per cubic metre for a 24-hour period.
Similarly, after data went missing for three hours, the level of PM2.5 in Anand Vihar was 1,396 micrograms per cubic metre at 3 a.m. on Monday — about 93.06 times the WHO permissible limit.
Post-Deepavali smog envelopes cities as air quality plummets to ‘severe’ | In pictures
A thick layer of toxic haze engulfs Delhi as people commute near Rashtrapati Bhavan, shrouded in thick smog during the early morning of November 9, 2026, a day after Deepavali. The city’s 24-hour average AQI was 370, in the “very poor” category, at 9 a.m.
People jog near India Gate, shrouded in thick smog, as Delhi’s AQI touched 404 in the ‘severe’ category at 4 a.m. on November 9, 2026, according to the CPCB’s live dashboard.
Burari Crossing recorded Delhi’s highest AQI on November 9, 2026, at 441, followed by Vivek Vihar at 437 and Delhi Technological University at 434. People walking near India Gate.
Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is in force across Delhi and adjoining districts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, following the CAQM’s decision. A view of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, shrouded in thick smog during the early morning hours after Deepavali night.
The Supreme Court had allowed only green firecrackers in specified time windows on November 7 and 8, 2026, but the more polluting traditional crackers were also available in Delhi markets.
People commute near Rashtrapati Bhavan, shrouded in thick smog. PM2.5 refers to fine inhalable particles 2.5 micrometres or smaller, which can enter deep into the lungs and the bloodstream and cause respiratory and other health problems.
Kherwadi-Bandra East in Mumbai recorded an AQI of 264 on November 9, 2026, followed by Sewri at 226, Ghatkopar at 221 and Chembur at 216.
Byculla recorded an AQI of 193, Mindspace-Malad West 191, Kandivali West 187 and Worli 148 in Mumbai on November 9. Kurla was the lowest at 96.
Chennai’s AQI slipped to the ‘poor’ category at 213 on the morning of November 9, 2026, according to the CPCB’s Sameer app.
A private sensor at the Chennai home of weather blogger K. Srikanth recorded an AQI of around 1,000 for nearly four hours between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on November 8, 2026. Chennai residents said smoke from firecrackers lingered in cramped residential communities, with visibility so poor at one point that people could barely see one another.
As of 9 a.m. on November 9, 2026, Manali Village recorded Chennai’s highest AQI at 296, followed by Arumbakkam at 265, Kodungaiyur at 215, Royapuram at 184 and Velachery Residential Area at 142.
Hyderabad woke up to a grey, smoggy morning on November 9, 2026, after Deepavali celebrations that went on until 3 a.m. in localities such as Banjara Hills, Panjagutta, S.R. Nagar, Ameerpet and Somajiguda.
Smog shrouds the historic Golconda Fort. PM2.5 in Hyderabad reached 392 μg/m³ at 9.30 p.m. on November 8, 2026, with the city’s AQI averaging 509.
Ravi Colony near Masjid Banda in Hyderabad logged an AQI of 995 on November 8, 2026, and Serilingampally recorded 666 at 11.30 p.m., when the city average was 442.
Telangana Pollution Control Board monitors in Hyderabad were out of order as pollution rose on November 8, 2026, with the University of Hyderabad station offline by 10 p.m. The figures come from publicly available monitors. Hyderabad’s AQI was still 178 on November 9, morning, with PM10 at 113 μg/m³.
A vendor walks amid a thick layer of smog, near Sangam in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow (251), Amritsar (242), Jodhpur (234), Ahmedabad (230), Dehradun (228), Jaipur and Udaipur (223 each), Surat (207), Nagpur (239), Pune (221) and Bhopal (205) also recorded ‘poor’ air quality on November 9, 2026.
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Meanwhile, in the CPCB website, the data for PM2.5 seemed to be capped at 1,000 micrograms per cubic metre, showing more gaps in data than the DPCC website.
Mr. Kumar said that Siri Fort recorded 1,000 µg/m³, the maximum PM2.5 concentration displayed on the CPCB-CCR public portal.
“The portal does not display readings above this level, raising concerns about the representation of extreme pollution concentrations,” he said.
Post-Deepavali smog envelopes cities as air quality plummets to ‘severe’ | In pictures
A thick layer of toxic haze engulfs Delhi as people commute near Rashtrapati Bhavan, shrouded in thick smog during the early morning of November 9, 2026, a day after Deepavali. The city’s 24-hour average AQI was 370, in the “very poor” category, at 9 a.m.
People jog near India Gate, shrouded in thick smog, as Delhi’s AQI touched 404 in the ‘severe’ category at 4 a.m. on November 9, 2026, according to the CPCB’s live dashboard.
Burari Crossing recorded Delhi’s highest AQI on November 9, 2026, at 441, followed by Vivek Vihar at 437 and Delhi Technological University at 434. People walking near India Gate.
Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is in force across Delhi and adjoining districts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, following the CAQM’s decision. A view of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, shrouded in thick smog during the early morning hours after Deepavali night.
The Supreme Court had allowed only green firecrackers in specified time windows on November 7 and 8, 2026, but the more polluting traditional crackers were also available in Delhi markets.
People commute near Rashtrapati Bhavan, shrouded in thick smog. PM2.5 refers to fine inhalable particles 2.5 micrometres or smaller, which can enter deep into the lungs and the bloodstream and cause respiratory and other health problems.
Kherwadi-Bandra East in Mumbai recorded an AQI of 264 on November 9, 2026, followed by Sewri at 226, Ghatkopar at 221 and Chembur at 216.
Byculla recorded an AQI of 193, Mindspace-Malad West 191, Kandivali West 187 and Worli 148 in Mumbai on November 9. Kurla was the lowest at 96.
Chennai’s AQI slipped to the ‘poor’ category at 213 on the morning of November 9, 2026, according to the CPCB’s Sameer app.
A private sensor at the Chennai home of weather blogger K. Srikanth recorded an AQI of around 1,000 for nearly four hours between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on November 8, 2026. Chennai residents said smoke from firecrackers lingered in cramped residential communities, with visibility so poor at one point that people could barely see one another.
As of 9 a.m. on November 9, 2026, Manali Village recorded Chennai’s highest AQI at 296, followed by Arumbakkam at 265, Kodungaiyur at 215, Royapuram at 184 and Velachery Residential Area at 142.
Hyderabad woke up to a grey, smoggy morning on November 9, 2026, after Deepavali celebrations that went on until 3 a.m. in localities such as Banjara Hills, Panjagutta, S.R. Nagar, Ameerpet and Somajiguda.
Smog shrouds the historic Golconda Fort. PM2.5 in Hyderabad reached 392 μg/m³ at 9.30 p.m. on November 8, 2026, with the city’s AQI averaging 509.
Ravi Colony near Masjid Banda in Hyderabad logged an AQI of 995 on November 8, 2026, and Serilingampally recorded 666 at 11.30 p.m., when the city average was 442.
Telangana Pollution Control Board monitors in Hyderabad were out of order as pollution rose on November 8, 2026, with the University of Hyderabad station offline by 10 p.m. The figures come from publicly available monitors. Hyderabad’s AQI was still 178 on November 9, morning, with PM10 at 113 μg/m³.
A vendor walks amid a thick layer of smog, near Sangam in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow (251), Amritsar (242), Jodhpur (234), Ahmedabad (230), Dehradun (228), Jaipur and Udaipur (223 each), Surat (207), Nagpur (239), Pune (221) and Bhopal (205) also recorded ‘poor’ air quality on November 9, 2026.
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Meanwhile, both the AAP and the Congress attacked the BJP government over the missing data, with the former alleging that it was “data fraud”. Hitting back, Mr. Mishra alleged that there was a “conspiracy” by AAP-governed Punjab to set stubble on fire in Punjab on Sunday (November 8, 2026) evening.
Published – November 09, 2026 05:19 pm IST
