India, Oct. 23 -- A war of words erupted between the Delhi government and the opposition parties over air pollution in the Capital on Wednesday. While the government said that the pollution levels were in control, the opposition parties alleged that the government "manipulated and concealed" Delhi's air quality data on Diwali night by shutting down pollution monitoring stations across the capital.

Chief minister Rekha Gupta said that the pollution levels had not risen unexpectedly and were less than in previous years.

"We have all seen the data. If we compare the data of the next day of Diwali with the previous years, the number (air quality index) has decreased. Although permission was granted to burst firecrackers, the gap (in the AQI...