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Behind the smoke: Decoding Delhi’s conflicting AQI numbers

Behind the smoke: Decoding Delhi’s conflicting AQI numbers

What's behind this

More than 250 PM2.5 data points from Delhi were missing on the Central Pollution Control Board website for the night of November 8‑9, according to a CREA analyst and noted by air‑quality scientist Manoj Kumar on Twitter. By November 12, the city’s Air Quality Index had risen to 319, putting it back into the ‘very poor’ category, as reported by monitoring stations.

AI-generated overview from 2 outlets. It summarises their reporting and adds no reporting of its own.

RSS excerpt

Why do private apps and government monitors show vastly different pollution levels? Unpack the hardware, algorithms, and 500-cap behind Delhi's AQI crisis.

Coverage arrived over 45 hours. First from The Federal, latest from Alt News.

High Corroboration 11 news outlets reporting

How this event was covered

First reported by The Federal at 12:17 UTC on 10 Nov.

Coverage ran into a second day.

Across 2 desks: business, india.

All 11 newsrooms, and who owns them

Compare all reporting outlets (11)

  1. 8 minutes later
  2. 2 hours later
  3. 2 hours later
  4. OpIndia Aadhyaasi Media and Content Services Pvt. Ltd. Current article

    Behind the smoke: Decoding Delhi’s conflicting AQI numbers

    Why do private apps and government monitors show vastly different pollution levels? Unpack the hardware, algorithms, and 500-cap behind Delhi's AQI crisis.

  5. 4 hours later
  6. The Economic Times Bennett, Coleman & Co.

    ET Graphics: Why emergency traffic curbs in 2026 failed to clear Delhi's toxic winter air

    A CSE analysis finds that Delhi's emergency traffic curbs failed to ease congestion or improve air quality in early winter 2026, while Diwali firecrackers triggered a sharp pollution spike. The report examines the contribution of transport, stubble burning and other sources, emerging pollution…

  7. 8 hours later
  8. 2 hours later
  9. 42 minutes later
  10. Free Press Kashmir Free Press Kashmir

    India’s air quality index may understate pollution during extreme episodes, experts warn

    The Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) decision to exclude particulate matter readings exceeding 1,000 micrograms per cubic metre from Air Quality Index (AQI) calculations has raised concerns among environmental experts, who say the practice could understate the severity of pollution during…

  11. 3 minutes later
  12. 3 hours later
  13. 41 minutes later

Who did not run this

11 newsrooms ran this event. 22 others published in India recently and did not.

See which 22 newsrooms
  • ANI ANI Media
  • Deccan Chronicle Deccan Chronicle Holdings
  • Deccan Herald The Printers (Mysore) Pvt. Ltd.
  • EastMojo EastMojo
  • Factly Factly Media & Research
  • India TV Independent News Service
  • India Today Living Media India
  • Kashmir Life Kashmir Life
  • Mathrubhumi English Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co.
  • NE Now NE Now
  • O Heraldo Herald Publications (Goa)
  • Orissa Post Eastern Media Ltd (Sambad Group)
  • Rising Kashmir Rising Kashmir
  • The Assam Tribune Assam Tribune Group
  • The Avenue Mail The Avenue Mail
  • The Hindu Kasturi & Sons Ltd.
  • The National Herald The Associated Journals Ltd.
  • The Pioneer The Pioneer
  • The Siasat Daily Siasat Daily
  • The South First The South First
  • The Times of India Bennett, Coleman & Co.
  • The Tribune The Tribune Trust

Counted from the newest hundred stories in the section, not from every newsroom in India.

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