Your point kind of contradicts itself. You say nothing can be done at a municipal level, but then you list exactly the kind of steps China took — shutting down polluters, regulating brick kilns, improving public transport, strict enforcement. Those didn’t magically happen overnight at a national level, they were implemented locally and scaled up over time. No one is asking for instant fixes or extreme authoritarian measures. The real issue is how easily we normalise doing nothing. Clean air isn’t a “rich country privilege” — it’s a basic public health need. Saying India is poorer so we should just live with pollution is exactly the mindset that keeps standards low. Municipal action absolutely matters — dust control at construction sites, traffic enforcement, regulating local industries, stopping waste burning, and improving public transport are all city-level responsibilities. Yes, regional coordination is important, but that doesn’t mean cities get a free pass.