Zee Research Group/Delhi
Sixty plus years of Independence yet no freedom from pollution!
A. Where does India stand globally on the environment feat?
India has slipped 32 ranks in the global Environment Performance Index (EPI) 2014 to rank a lowly 155 and its capital Delhi has earned the dubious tag of being the world’s most polluted city. In 2010, India was at rank 122.
A World Bank report 2013 out of that surveyed 132 countries India ranked at 126th position for environmental performance and worst for air pollution.
B. Growing pollution in Indian cities
According to World Health Organisation’s (WHO) report released on May 7, 2014, Delhi had dirtiest atmosphere of 1,600 cities around the world.
The latest urban air-quality database released by the World Health Organisation confirms that most Indian cities are becoming death traps because of very high air pollution levels
According to Centre for Science and Environment 13 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world were in India
According Teri environmental survey 2014, air quality had worsened and the number of bird species had declined in Coimbatore, Delhi, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Mumbai and Pune.
Majority of respondents (90 per cent) who participated in the TERI survey felt that climate change was a reality and a majority out of those felt that average temperatures had risen and rainfall levels had gone down over time.
