If the data had not been lost, the Air Quality Index during Diwali would have been close to the "severe" level.
During the festival pollution peak, only 12 out of 39 air monitoring stations in India were operating normally.
An analysis by The Times of India of hourly air quality readings showed that if most of Delhi's environmental air quality monitoring stations had not malfunctioned during the pollution peak on Diwali night and the following morning, the average Air Quality Index (AQI) for the capital the next day might have been closer to the "severe" level than what official data shows.
In the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, only 8 out of 39 monitoring stations recorded continuous hourly data, which covered Diwali night and the following morning. It is these data that are used to calculate the air quality.
If the air quality monitoring data had not been lost, the AQI data was 380, and during the severe air pollution period, the AQI had reached 401. Indians are breathing with their lives.
Additionally, when External Affairs Minister Sujatha Singh met with U.S. Secretary of State Rubio, he stated that the U.S. is expanding its relationship with Pakistan, but not at the expense of India.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847184370226176/
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