Turns out, a big chunk of India's air quality monitoring stations aren't working: 257 out of 634 checked were inactive, and some reported data late, just as Delhi's pollution levels shot past "very poor" on the Air Quality Index.
So, while the air gets harder to breathe, reliable updates are often missing.
Few Indians have real-time monitoring access
Even though there are 1,646 monitoring stations across India, that averages to just one station for every nine lakh people.
Only 15% of the population lives close enough to get real-time information, and more than 64% of districts don't have any monitoring at all.
Tamil Nadu has it worst with 76% of its stations inactive, so it's not just a Delhi problem; it's nationwide.