Delhi air pollution: If You don't measure poison, no antidote

India's air may be toxic, but data meant to measure toxicity is turning just as murky. Last week, frustrated and concerned Delhiites stepped out to demand the most basic of rights: clean air. Authorities reportedly did their bit to snuff out the protest. After all, what can be worse than breathing bad air than protesting about breathing bad air? But worse is the unwillingness to accept the problem, and then trying to fix it, scientifically, conscientiously.

No one likes their city/state to be on the list of most polluted in the world, governments least of all. But this Diwali - the first in four years to allow 'green' firecrackers - 'mitigation' was there for all to see: data from several continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) went dark. The same thing happened this week. Experts flagged the gaps, the government insisted nothing was awry, and CPCB remained silent. Incompetence or intention throws up the same result: a public left in the dark about the air they breathe with difficulties. Data gaps are not a minor technical glitch. If monitors fail for days, it signals a fundamental fault in the sensors, one that requires audits and upgrades. Missing or misrepresented PM2.5 levels skew AQI calculations, and AQI drives decisions such as Grap restrictions.

Delhi at least has monitors to argue over. With just 1,395 air quality stations nationwide - far fewer than the 4,000-plus that are needed - large swathes of the country normalise living with poisonous air. India has 0.14 monitors per million people, compared to China's 1.24 and the US' 3.4. A country that can't measure its poison can't hope to provide an antidote. Until India treats monitoring as life-saving infrastructure, citizens will keep paying the price.