The artificial lungs installed in Lucknow turned black in 24 hours, whereas in Delhi it took 6 days

Raising concerns over the depleting air quality in Uttar Pradesh, artificial lungs installed in capital Lucknow in Lalbagh area near Nagar Nigam office turned black within 24 hours.

The purpose of the artificial lungs is to mimic the functioning of the human lungs.

"This shows the air quality here. It took six days for the lungs to turn black in Delhi, 18 days in Bengaluru," said Ekta Shekhar, who is director of Climate Agenda, the organisation which installed the artificial lungs.

"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," Ms Shekhar added.

Apart from Uttar Pradesh, the overall air quality index (AQI) again deteriorated to ''very poor'' category on Sunday in the national capital after the level of harmful pollutants shot up.

According to government-run SAFAR, Delhi's AQI was docking at 382 in the morning.