.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta faced chants of ‘AQI, AQI’ from the crowd while welcoming football star Lionel Messi at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday, as the city’s Air Quality Index reached severe levels at 498 in the morning before settling at 427 by evening.The incident was captured in a viral video, prompting criticism from the Aam Aadmi Party over the city’s deteriorating air quality.”International Shame, Crowd for Messi shouts ‘AQI, AQI’ as soon as Delhi CM Rekha Gupta arrives,” posted AAP’s Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj on X, sharing the video clip. The AAP criticised BJP governments at the Centre and in Delhi for their alleged inaction as toxic air affected Delhi-NCR and North India regions.”In a country where everyone is talking about pollution, the prime minister is just silent on the issue,” Bharadwaj stated.The Central Pollution Control Board reported that 27 monitoring stations across Delhi recorded ‘severe’ air quality on Monday, with Wazirpur recording the highest at 475.The dense smog affected visibility and daily activities, causing residents to take precautions like wearing masks during commutes. Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘severe’ zone for the third consecutive day, with haze obscuring the city’s skyline.The Lionel Messi G.O.A.T. India Tour concluded successfully at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, following an earlier chaotic event in Kolkata on Saturday.
