Every single chapter of the Fifth Citizens' Report that deals with the urban sector paints a distressing picture. The chapter on "Atmosphere' shows that it is not just metros like Delhi which are reeling under severe air pollution but also towns like Rajkot in Gujarat and Gajroula and Dehra Dun in Uttar Pradesh. Even towns such as Agartala, which the cash-strapped Central Pollution Control Board (cpcb) does not monitor, is no better. So is Srinagar, the jewel of Kashmir.

The government has no clue how to handle this problem. If anything is happening, it is only because of the green judges of the Supreme Court. Despite the fact that India's traffic system is dominated by highly polluting two-stroke engines, the cpcb does not even monitor benzene