Delhi's 'poor' air quality sparks political storm, AAP, BJP point fingers at each other

New Delhi: The drop in air quality due to a dust storm has sparked political sparring in Delhi with the opposition AAP claiming the situation was "never this bad" during its rule and the BJP terming the charge an attempt at scoring political brownie points.

An overnight duststorm led to Delhi's air quality slipping into the poor category with an AQI of 236 at 8 am on Thursday after staying steady at a moderate level for the past few weeks.

Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote on X that the air pollution situation was "never this bad" during this time of the year under the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP's) rule.

The ex-CM's views were echoed by his successor and senior AAP leader Aitishi who claimed in the social media platform that Delhi's AQI has never been so high in May.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data shows that from 2022-2024, AQI on May 15 never exceeded 243, she said. "Today, the AQI is 500." Atishi wondered derisively whether Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa would take responsibility for the city's worsening air pollution.

Sirsa hit back, saying it was "unfortunate" that a former chief minister was using a natural phenomenon to score political brownie points. The "real blame" lies on the AAP, which neglected pressing issues during its 10-year rule in Delhi, the BJP leader said.

"Today's spike in AQI was due to a weather event, not misgovernance.

But let's talk about real misgovernance Atishi ji… For 10 years, AAP allowed Delhi to drown in mountains of untreated legacy waste, broken and dust-choked roads with ZERO accountability on pollution!" the city environment minister said on X.

Senior AAP leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia claimed the AQI had reached 500 and he shared on X a mobile phone screenshot of the air quality figure.

"The four engines of the BJP government are emitting smoke in Delhi. The AQI in Delhi is currently 500 -- meaning poison! Sunlight is not visible, one cannot breathe, eyes burn, and throat is sore. No planning, no accountability, no emergency plan. Only speeches and slogans," he said.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.