Lucknow

Let us start with Lucknow, which has given the country some of its most recognisable political faces. It was represented in the 12th Lok Sabha by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the prime minister of India. Lucknow qualifies for what the India media calls a 'vip constituency'. But if you look at the air quality statistics, you will begin to wonder why the prime minister's own constituency is in such a state.

In 1992, when Delhi recorded its highest ever maximum spm level at 2,340