Viral water-spraying video triggers row

A viral video featuring AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj has sparked a fresh controversy over Delhi’s air pollution, showing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) water tankers spraying mist near the Anand Vihar air quality monitoring station.

The footage has led opposition leaders to claim that the move was aimed at lowering recorded Air Quality Index (AQI) levels in one of the city’s most polluted areas.

The timing of the video added to the debate, as it coincided with a sharp rise in air pollution across the capital post-Diwali. Anand Vihar, already classified as a “severe” pollution hotspot in official Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, was central to the controversy.

Bharadwaj shared the video on social media and accused the BJP-led MCD and Delhi government of resorting to “deliberate data management and not pollution control”. He alleged that water was being sprayed “day and night” at the monitoring station specifically to reduce AQI readings, calling it a “massive pollution data fraud”.

Other AAP leaders argued that this approach masked the city’s true air quality, misled residents about health risks and wasted public resources.

The BJP and senior government officials dismissed the allegations. They described the charges as “foolish” and insisted that the water sprinkling was part of routine dust control measures under the city’s Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). Officials stressed that the sprinklers were not targeting monitoring stations but were deployed across multiple locations to curb pollution.

MCD Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh defended the operation, stating, “Water sprinklers are working everywhere and not from now but since last month… we cannot stop our work to mitigate pollution even if Saurabh Bharadwaj says so.”