AAP on Wednesday accused the BJP government in Delhi of shutting down pollution monitoring stations and manipulating Air Quality Index data on Diwali night to conceal the situation, even as the ruling dispensation blamed Punjab's stubble burning for the national capital's 'very poor' air quality.

Monitoring stations have shown that Delhi's air pollution hit a four-year high on Diwali, with particulate matter 2.5 peaking at 675.

AAP's Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged the BJP dispensation "committed data theft at a government level" by showing AQI readings of around 350 when actual levels had crossed 1,700.

"Multiple monitoring stations operated by the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, India Meteorological Department and IITM went offline at the same time and came back only after the winds cleared the air. This is dishonesty and manipulation against the people of Delhi," he claimed.

Responding to the charges, Delhi's Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, "Arvind Kejriwal has not only ruined Delhi but also Punjab. The air of Punjab is polluted now. Punjab once had very clean and fresh air, but its air has deteriorated."

Bharadwaj questioned why Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was not enforced despite AQI breaching critical limits and accused the government of contempt of court for allegedly tampering with pollution data.

"Farmers in Punjab are being forced to burn stubble in the fields by the AAP government. The highest number of stubble burning incidents occurred in AAP-ruled Punjab on Diwali night," Sirsa said.