Akhilesh Yadav: The Uttar Pradesh government has cautioned the public against relying on “misleading figures” from private air-quality applications circulating on social media.
It was claimed by the UP government that the air quality index of Lucknow at the time of the match was at 174, which indicate a moderate level of air quality.
Officials remarked certified and calibrated instruments are used by monitoring stations in Lucknow, including Lalbagh, Talkatora and Aliganj while private agencies count on uncalibrated sensors or satellite-based inputs that are highly prone to higher margins of error.
What Had Akhilesh Yadav Said?
Samajwadi Party Chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav had commented that people now need to cover their faces in Lucknow due to extreme smog at the Ekana Stadium.
Yadav made this comment after the 4th one-day international between India and South Africa was abandoned without any ball being bowled or even the toss happening due to extreme smog.
Yadav had claimed that the issue was smog and not fog. The former UP CM said pollution from Delhi had reached Lucknow, worsening air quality that affected the hosting of the scheduled international cricket match.
Yadav went on to comment that his government built parks for the city’s pure air but the ruling BJP government has ruined them by organizing investment events there.
The jibe ‘Muh Chupa Lijiye, Aap Lucknow Mein Hein’ by Yadav is a rephrased version of the famous line ‘Muskuraiye, aap Lucknow mein hein.’
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should have scheduled the game in Thiruvananthapuram, where AQI is about 68.
The toss was delayed after smog developed the ground. Six inspections and three hours later, the match umpires decided that the playing conditions were not good enough for international cricket.
