In an emergency response to the escalating air pollution levels in Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow, the district administration has put a ban on bursting of crackers at all public events till January next year. Since the last fortnight, while the focus has been on the emergency-like situation in Delhi and how the national capital has turned into a gas chamber, what has largely gone unnoticed is how cities in UP like Ghaziabad and Lucknow have actually topped the air pollution charts.