India, Jan. 1 -- New Delhi

The air quality index (AQI) data for Delhi and other NCR cities was unavailable for Wednesday due to a glitch in the National Informatics Centre's (NIC's) server following a power outage late Tuesday, according to an official with the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) for NCR and adjoining areas.

Shortly after 4pm on Wednesday, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) uploaded their hourly data, according to which Delhi's AQI was 140 ("moderate"). However, minutes later, the data changed and showed Delhi's AQI as 278 ("poor").

A CPCB official said that the server issue was fixed around 4pm and the hourly data was being collected. The official, not wanting to be named, said that the 24-hour averag...