CPCB live air quality feed hits pause for 11 hours after tech glitch

The glitch also resulted in the same data being displayed on CPCB’s website through its hourly ticker.

The Central Pollution Control Board’s ‘Sameer’ app, which shows air quality index (AQI) for cities around the country, faced a ‘technical glitch’ on Monday, resulting in the real-time air quality data not being updated after 5am. Delhi’s overall AQI was stuck at a reading of 372 from 5am onwards, with the problem only getting fixed around 4pm, when CPCB releases its national bulletin.

Commuters on Kartavya Path in Delhi on Monday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The glitch also resulted in the same data being displayed on CPCB’s website through its hourly ticker. Officials said while there was no problem in the continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS), there was a problem in the data being transmitted to the app.

“There was a technical glitch and the data was being collected, but not updated. The problem was identified in the morning and was fixed by around 4pm,” said an official, stating all values in the national bulletin were correct for the day.

Delhi recorded an overall AQI of 392 (very poor) on Monday, up from a reading of 352 (very poor) on Sunday.

Besides providing hourly readings of AQI, the Sameer app is also used to track pollution related complaints, allowing users to submit details of violations along with photographs.