Talk about air pollution in India and everybody thinks of the four metropolitan cities. But the ambient air quality in even smaller cities and towns is deteriorating alarmingly and in somecases much worse. In Lucknow, for example, the maximum level of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in1997 matched the highest levels recorded in Delhi. And if one person dies prematurely every hour in Delhi due to high SPM levels, the death count in Lucknow can well be imagined. The main reason for this is a sharp rise in polluting motor vehicles and mismanagement of publictransport. Rogue industrial units also play a hand. Although data about rising levels of air pollution is available, there are no programmes in any of these cities to counter the emerging public health disaster. How many will die before India has an effective national air quality management plan?