IndiaPosted at: Oct 1 2026 9:14PM


Delhi air quality worsened in 2026, CAQM left out key average, claims report; Congress' Ajay Maken flags issue

New Delhi, Oct 1 (UNI) Delhi’s air quality deteriorated during the first nine months of 2026 compared to the same period last year, while the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has left out the January-September average from its latest air quality release, according to an analysis by Hawa Ka Hisab.
Citing the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily 4 PM AQI bulletins, Hawa Ka Hisab said Delhi’s average AQI between January and September 2026 was 167.6, compared to 164.3 during the corresponding period in 2025.
The analysis said the January-August average was also higher in 2026, at 175.7 against 171.7 in 2025.
According to Hawa Ka Hisab, CAQM did not publish a cumulative air-quality statistics release for any period between January and August 2026. Its latest release, issued on September 30, covered the January-September period.
The analysis found that February, March, July and August 2026 recorded worse AQI averages than the corresponding months in 2025.
July 2026 recorded an average AQI of 117.8, compared with 78.4 in July 2025, making it Delhi’s worst July since 2019, based on CAQM’s tables.
Hawa Ka Hisab also examined data from 39 monitoring stations that reported in both years. It said the AQI reached 500, the highest value on the scale, for 796 station-hours in 2026, compared with 256 station-hours in 2025.
During those hours, PM2.5 reportedly averaged 439 micrograms per cubic metre, which Hawa Ka Hisab calculated was around 29 times the World Health Organization’s 24-hour guideline.
The analysis also questioned CAQM’s claim of recording the “lowest levels of PM2.5”, noting that the Commission’s release listed PM2.5 at 69 micrograms per cubic metre for both 2025 and 2026.
Hawa Ka Hisab said CAQM’s latest release also differed from its 2025 release in the period used for comparison.
While last year’s release included the January-September average and comparisons going back to 2018, the latest release omitted the January-September average and began its comparison from 2022.
Reacting to the report, Congress leader Ajay Maken said, “The CPCB’s own bulletins show that Delhi’s air got worse this year. The Commission did not issue a single statistics release for January to August, and when it did publish, the January to September average was missing.”
Maken has also written to CAQM’s two non-official members, Arvind Wable and Arunabha Ghosh, asking them to seek publication of the monthly statistics for January to August 2026 and the January-September average.
He has also sought restoration of the longer-term comparison beginning from 2018 and correction of the claim regarding the “lowest levels of PM2.5”, citing CAQM’s own figures.
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Tags: #Delhi air quality worsened in 2026# CAQM left out key average# claims report; Congress' Ajay Maken flags issue
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