Leaving Delhi Behind In The Wrong Race: Artificial Lungs Turn Black Within 24 Hours Of Installation In Lucknow

Artificial lungs installed near Lalbagh area’s Nagar Nigam office in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow turned black within 24 hours, raising concerns over the depleting quality of air in the city, Business Standard has reported.

“This shows the air quality here. It took six days for the lungs to turn black in Delhi, 18 days in Bengaluru,” director of climate change agenda Ekta Shekhar was quoted in the report as saying.

“In Lucknow, the lungs turned black by the very next day of the installation, within 24 hours. We had used HEPA filters. There are loopholes in the National Clean Air Programme of the government. Till the time they are not addressed, the situation won't be better in the state,” Shekhar added. The purpose of artificial lungs is to mimic the functioning of the human lungs.

On the other hand, the air quality index (AQI) declined in Delhi to the category of ‘very poor’ on Sunday (13 January) as the level of harmful pollutants increased in the national capital. According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR), which is run by the central government, the capital’s AQI was at an alarming level of 382 in the morning.