India's toxic air gets worse, pollution in 132 cities below standards

India is failing in efforts to improve its toxic air quality, with the number of smog-plagued cities increasing since the launch of a national program to tackle the issue. 

A total of 132 cities now have pollution levels deemed below national standards, from 102 cities when the National Clean Air Programme began in 2019, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

Limited funding, the lack of tighter emissions standards for industries including metal smelters to oil refineries and slow progress on adding monitoring stations are all factors hampering work to improve air quality,