Unreliable data mask just how bad the air quality crisis is in India

NEW DELHI (AP) — Recent remarks about pollution from two Indian officials have increased frustration among residents who say policymakers are unwilling to acknowledge the severity of India’s air quality crisis.

When Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told Parliament earlier this month that India’s capital, New Delhi, has seen 200 days with good air quality readings, pollution experts and opposition leaders said he chose a figure that overlooked the worst pollution months.

A week later, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the air quality index — a measure of air pollution — was similar to a temperature reading and could be dealt with by spraying water. Crowds jeered her at a subsequent public event, shouting “AQI” in reference to the city’s poor air quality readings.

Gupta had also greenlit a controversial cloud seeding program earlier this year, saying it could produce rain that would lower pollution — despite lack of evidence that the approach would work.

Residents in New Delhi and surrounding areas engulfed in toxic smog over the last few months said...