It is official: India has the world's most toxic air.
In a study by Yale and Columbia Universities, India holds the very last rank among 132 nations in terms of air quality with regard to its effect on human health.
India scored a miniscule 3.73 out of a possible 100 points in the analysis, lagging far behind the next worst performer, Bangladesh, which scored 13.66. In fact, the entire South Asian region fares badly, with Nepal, Pakistan and China taking up the remaining spots in the bottom five of the rankings.
These rankings are part of a wider study to index the nations of the world in terms of their overall environmental performance. The Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and Columbia's Center for International Earth Science Information Network have brought out the Environment Performance Index rankings every two years since 2006.
In the overall rankings — which takes 22 policy indicators into account — India fared minimally better, but still stuck in the last ten ranks along with environmental laggards such as Iraq, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. At the other end of the scale, the European nations of Switzerland, Latvia and Norway captured the top slots in the index.
India's performance over the last two years was relatively good in sectors such as forests, fisheries, biodiversity and climate change. However, in the case of water — both in terms of the ecosystem effects to water resources and the human health effects of water quality — the Indian performance is very poor.
The Index report was presented at the World Economic Forum currently taking place in Davos, where it's being pitched as a means to identify the leaders and the laggards on energy and environmental challenges prior to the iconic Rio+20 summit on sustainable development to be held in Brazil this June.
Comments:
I live in Chinsurah near river Ganges & the water is filth. If anyone
take a dip in the river he will ger serious skin infections. Also when I
go to Kolkata the air is polluted and not easy to breathe.
No wonder its a surprise. Our Political leaders will still fool us saying that there are 7 more countries behind us and therefore we are better. Also citizen's responsibility plays a major role like we are cutting trees and clearing away all green spaces to build tons and tons of flats indirectly killing ourselves. This is nothing but greediness and race to make more and more money with no civic responsibility. Greediness among transport officials who knows nothing but bribery and lacking knowledge about vehicle emissions and saftey issues.Every household should plant atleast one tree per house and imagine the number of trees we can grow. But we are really interested in not leaving even an inch of space to build houses,flats and offices and also stealing neighbour's spaces as well. we are living in information age and the only way to improve is to get out from our ignorance shell, shed our ego, learn lessons from other developed countries.
Malnutrition in 42% of children, 70% milk sample found adulterated and now in bottom for lowest quality of air. Corruption is already a way of life. Education we perform poorly.Do we have really good sense of humour when we talk of becoming a superpower? I am also thinking that my comment above might become objectionable content in days to come as there is a talk in the town about it.
Priscilla Jebaraj:Thanks for the environmental data regarding the quality of air and air pollution in India vis-a-vis the data for other countries and it’s dismal ranking (# 132) as far the toxic air pollutants are concerned. One doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to analyze the information. One stroll in the crowded streets of Bangalore or Bombay in broad day light will prove how deathly toxic the air is ! For example, you walk around wearing a white shirt, after an hour or two, and, examine the shirt. You will without fail detect soot and other particulate matter on your clothing. That means your lungs are getting packed more and more with these air suspended particulates, in addition to toxic fumes and emissions ( sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and NOx spewing out of the industrial smoke stacks and automobile exhaust. Ere long the people of India will be down with all sorts of respiratory ailments in addition to deadly cancer.
I am very likely to vote for a national party who would take aggressive steps to fight tackle air/noise/water pollution across India - this is national urgency.
It is so depressing to read such reports nowadays! It seems as though India is now less than mediocre in every aspect of life - be it education, economics, hygine, and now environment! Who do we turn to for respite? It is now time to choose political leaders who really have a healthy long term vision for India's welfare. Get rid of all these useless politicians who hold the govt. posts but do nothing whatsoever for our country.
Yet another distinction! Ye Bharat Mahan! Jai Hind! Courtesy our rulers.
Major concern in India should be management of Garbage Any city or village one enters by train or road you witness heaps of garbage! Municipal corp. should plan proper area with pits and segregate and collect organic waste for decomposition which can be used in farms inorganic waste huge plastic littered all over should be sent for recycling. This will reduce pollution and foul smell by 30PC. Our future generation will at last breath fresh air.
I have major sinus problem, during my visits to US, Singapore I noticed that I dont need any sinus medicines, I dont need any nasel drops. However as soon as I am back to Pune(INDIA) I'm back on my medicines. This explains why I need to be on medicines when I am back.
Why the government turns a blind eye to the exploding growth of population beats me. The writing is clear on the wall that any good will be undone by unbridled population growth. With limited natural resources and land mass we have already driven wildlife into oblivion and now the free air we breathe is in jeopardy. When China, which is nearly 3 times the size of India, can implement one child policy in 1978 to alleviate social, economic and environmental problems, why is it still a far cry for India? Unless the government bears the future generations in mind and deal with this problem free of political, religious or economic compulsions, we would remain at the bottom of more such lists. For in this case, more is not the merrier.
Consumerism and greed capitalism is killing the quality of air and water that the Indian public will have to reflect upon the material gains they have made at the cost of the toxins they are breathing and imbibing. China, in particular Shanghai, had gone through such a phase but the astute Govermentt acted on it immediately and changed the situation. One will have to be cynical and say, that can't be expected of the Indian Goverment who is busy,it seems, in their personal acquisition of wealth than the citizens health. Only a visionary leader with a patriotic ferver could bring about the needed change and save the people. We have to wait for that miracle!
Its very shameful that everytime in various world ratings India is at
the bottom. We have to learn lesson from these reports. its really shame
for our politicians who claim that India is progressing. but in reality
these politicians have taken everything from us. I want to request my
citizens please wake up before its too late and change the political
system by changing the most corrupt government in the history of India.
Such surveys are suspect precisely because they do not take into
consideration areas of countries. For example, it is silly to compare
Switzerland with India. India with China is more correct as would be say
Shri Lanka with Switzerland.
It is indeed a shame that we should be last in the race. Outsourcing the polluting industries to South Asian countries like India, China etc. has become the norm in developed countries. This would in-turn improve the quality of air in developed countries while we pay the price!
Does it open some eyes in the Government - and in our people? At least Now. How long will we tolerate nasty emissions by factories, autos etc? Even people burn rubber tyres etc on streets emitting poisonous gases - and spreading ill-health all around them. No one can question these unsocial persons - as, they just don't care for social and moral principles - and Police is least helpful in such matters. A lot of awareness is needed in India. When roads are laid - they go off with just one rain - specially in Chennai. And, the whole road will always be filled with dust-filled air.There are so many such causes for NASTY AIR. I think - the study has done GREAT SERVICE TO INDIA - provided, we learn the right lessons from it.
Development at this cost is unacceptable . Where is the sustainable development model I used to read in textbooks ??
Until every Indian begins to think of commonly shared space as something they are individually and colelctively responsible for, misuse of common space/property and therefore urban, rural and natural environment will not stop. It starts with not dirtying the road outside your car window, or the street behind your house, and continues all the way to a sense of communal pride in where we are. Isn't it time we trained ourselves to contradict the label that 'Indians are dirty'?
Of course the pollution is a big problem in India. However the system of indexing is not true representative. India is a very big country, to compare India with small countries like Switzerland, Latvia, Norway etc is to give misinformation. If you take some individual states in India which are even bigger than above said countries, India will stand far better than these countries in pollution index.
The author must take care of the size and the population of the country concerned while indexing for the true picture.
yes,It is a shame but we have to take serious measures to reduce it
otherwise we may have a to face serious situations in the future...
Burning garbage is an insidious practice followed even in big cities like Bangalore. The air quality is further worsened by practices like this. I feel for our citizens, especially the children, who breathe in this toxic air every moment of their lives. It is a sad reflection on our priorities in life. No point blaming only the politicians. There is no strong citizen oversight or protest against poor governance. People are always in the mind set that 'as long I and my family are fine, and my house is clean, it doesn't matter how the rest of the country lives'. This lack of pride in our surroundings, our environment, our country - this is going to hurt us and our future generations.
We need to take concrete affordable steps in cleaning up our environment such as: 1. Efficient garbage collection & proper disposal or eco-efficient conversion to bio-fuel, etc.2. Inculcate in students & general populace hygiene, discipline and concern for the environment. TV & Cinema would also be effective means of teaching & spreading this. 3. Discourage use of diesel for smaller vehicles (less than 2000cc engines. 4. Engage army personal based in peace stations to police, enforce and lead garbage clearance in areas within 25km radius of the army base. Appoint retired army personnel in charge of corporations & municipal cleaning corporations. 5. Impose steep road taxes on larger passenger veicles. 6. Impose steep electricity rates for households consuming excess electricity. 7. Efficient lighting in streets, households,offices,etc. 8. Green projects (tree planting, water collection & storage, wind, tidal & solar power generation,hybrid vehicles, environmentally friendly buildings.
It is disheartening to see such a horrible condition of India on a
front which affects everyone. I agree that the Government can't do
much to alleviate the situation. There are already a lot of rules in
vogue that need to be implemented in a stricter way. If every person
accepts the responsibility and do his duty to save the nation, then
only India can improve not only on this front, but also on every. We
are having the tendency to pass the bucks, without thinking about our
responsibility. Now, how can i do our bit? I estimated that per day
one person is using 2 plastic bags at least which needs to be
dispensed with. So in a year, one person uses almost 730 bags. If a
person manages not to use a bag a day, he can save 365 in a year, so
can lessen the air pollution caused by burning it by half at least.It
is always better not to use a single poly bag. Kindly do your bit and
share as much as u can. Second, The Guv. can make aware the people by
TV ads and other media of the consequences.
In every major city of India there are rising cases of respiratory
diseases,this shows that the Indian government is not worried about its
people which is proved by this ranking despite being the world is
serious about the environment.
i appreciate views from Hitesh and i like to add that it is the need of the hour that each Indian should feel from core of the heart that India must be pollution free and each citizen should spare 5 min from his schedule and get connected with mother Earth.
our schools are not making the right citizens.our politicians do not fear loss of power or punishment.our families pursue only money.I am hoping Anna hazare will inspire thousands of young leaders to control politicians,govt officers and inspire the common man to pursue high standards of living for self and others.
People showing off to each other with wealth and cars have increased many folds in India. As the economy of India grows so does the pollution and the bad health due unhealthy eating. More and more Western life style is ruining our people. I urge people to give up automobiles and take charge of the country free from pollution and traffic jams. Gandhian way, where Gandhiji burnt all foreign goods
because he knew these things will ruin the people and the country.
We Indians don't need BMW, WV, Benz, Ford and so on. WE need to walk and ride bikes to save our country and our health we owe our future generation a clean country as we got it from our ancestors.
I agree india got highest pollution. But i ask you the citizens of india and NRI's who are commeting about the facts that what they are going to do to make it better for our country instead of criticizing politicians and indians? This is the time for all indians to come together to make india a better place.
as an Environmental Expert for the last 50 years,I worked as a member of the A.P.state pollution control Board and also as the chairman of its Technical committee,I have realised that Environmental Laws cannot be implemented by the states and the Union government unless the public respond to the emerging pollution problems.I was personally involved in protecting the public health of lakhs of people of Chennai as their Drinking water source at Red Hills lake was sought to be poisoned by the state officials in July,1984 by improper location of a major slaught house at Koduvalli in the foreshore of the cholavaram lake that feeds the Red hills lake.Madras Environmental society filed a PIL in the High court and ultimately on my insistence,the Union Expert committee warned that unless the Poondi surroundings for 5km.are free from sources of pollution, Telugu Ganga water supply to Chennai will not be cleared..Thus this monstrous action could not be stopped when local experts approved it
Every time I visit in Seattle for a few months and get back to my place, Chennai, I tell myself -" Look this is your place, these are your people and this this is your dust and filth". I'm not exaggerating this when I say, that babies here in Seattle hardly fall sick when i hear my relatives babies in India are very frequently sick . This has been a major concern for some of our children to get back to India. The National places of Pride has all around them a lot of toilet smell, open gutters and huge piles of garbage. More organised and assertive willing culture of cleanliness must be adopted, and no politician seems to be bothered about this or considers this a serious issue, and we the citizens are reasonably careful not to get our feet dirty.
We indians seem to have no sense of how to really protect environment. 1. We burn garbage, in un-controlled fashion. This is done open-air, by citizens themselves. But at the same time, if large industrial garbage-to-power plants are proposed to be setup, there are widespread protests. Nobody seems to care that the large industrial plants are well designed, with tight controls on emissions. 2. We have stupid regulations: We have separate emission standards for 2-stroke, 4-stroke engines. Why? If the purpose of emission standards is to protect environment, why not have a single standard?
We should flat out ban 2-stroke engines. 3. We should properly pave our streets. So much of airborne dust is due to bad and insufficient paving, poor cleaning of our roads. End result, we have some of the filthiest air, polluted groundwater, contaminated food. And we keep chest thumping about environment.
Folks, first and foremost change the "chalta hai" attitude. One consistent remark across all the remarks above, we need a brand new govt or set of leaders. Forget netas, forget govt, start with ourselves. Can we as individuals, not spit anywhere we feel like, not pee on the side of the roads etc. Change in our own attitude is required before we take on big things.
It is astounding how bad the situation is. Water, air and noise pollution is rampant for some very basic causes. Apathy of the mostly sub-educated politicians, greed and malpractices in the industrial sector and and the basic poor hygiene of the general population which has now exploded beyond sustainable limits. Watching American NBA on ESPN or driving Japanese cars are not a sign of quality living. I don't remember having environment as part of my primary or secondary eduction. It is quite a lost cause for the present. Just amazed that there are seven countries below us!
Needless to say it is indeed very disheartening to see our country cross such shameful milestones, that too one after another in quick succession...but guys only thing that we can do which can make a difference is become responsible citizens first...take an interest in our surroundings...take a few minutes to know about the pollution standards of various manufacturing plants in our vicinity, and make our purchases based on the knowledge that we gain about them...as consumers we have the one major weapon, and that is We Create Demand...If we can curb the demand, then soon this kind of system will fail, and eventually annihilate...
Dr. S.L Jain's criticism that, "The author must take care of the size and the population of the country concerned while indexing for the true picture" doesn't hold water and lacks merit. For one thing the author DID NOT generate these data nor try to index the different nations and their rankings. As clearly indicated, the Performance Index data are from two prestigious universities, viz.,Yale and Columbia, and I am sure they don't have any bias or ill-feelings towards India or any country for that matter.
How about imposing one child policy which China did 25 years ago. Also relax taxes for parents with single child. This policy would indirectly help issues currently india is facing.
Everyone, regardless of position, needs to take responsibility in
matters of hygiene, not just the Government. May be signpost everywhere about conservation and hygiene and run campaigns to raise civic awareness. The need to preserve water supply is of utmost importance, since 80 per cent of water resource is already contaminated.
The article is an eye-opener for Indians not for the politicians. They have better things to do like fighting elections and grabbing chairs. Unless Indians raise their voices and try to be vigilant regarding environment matters, nobody is going to cry for them. We will not have anything to leave for our future generations. We should see individually as to how we can ensure that we dont pollute the environment that we live in. Let us be responsible citizens and be alert. In an election time such issues are likely to be pushed under the carpet. It is good that HINDU has brought out this article. I wish to see follow up stories on this.
I was at National Remote sensing Agency to procure satellite imagery recently. I realized there that due to pollution, even the satellite images of India were not clear/useful in some parts, esp. cities. What citizen's can do (a) Choose to take public transport/bicycles (b) Monitor near by polluting industries through Right-To-Information Act(c) Reduce energy consumption (d) Dispose waste responsibly. Government can do a lot, but they are busy for 5 years planning to win the next election.
More awareness should be created among the people in the effects of air
pollution.Stringent control measures should be taken at the level of induvidual,community,and political .The mind set of the people should be changed from day to day life to think of future generation.
this is not a new problem for country like India and their pupil, before blaming somebody we have to correct our self. because blaming to somebody will not clean our holy rivers and air pollution we have to move forward for doing sth, we have got the opportunity and we have to miss it. so do whatever you can do
Having stayed in N. America for more than a decade, I never ever fell ill even once, except for the odd case of the sniffles. However, after having returned to Bangalore (my hometown) for good, I have had three major breakdowns in the last year alone. This is apart from all the allergies one encounters when one lives in Bangalore. I am a relatively young man, who pays attention to what he eats and try to tuck in some amount of exercise regularly. If someone like me is unable to withstand the toxic air pollution, what about more vulnerable people like seniors and small children? Rather than blame politicians alone, it is even our people whose base expectations of governance are abysmally low. We are more interested in going to malls rather than watch our green cover get rapidly depleted and our lakes being filled by the politico-construction mafia. If we the people truly took a vocal stance against this poisonous phenomenon, we could at least improve things a little.
If anybody see Yamuna it is filled with industrial sewage and smells really bad .
The practice of burning garbage has to stop. "Burning garbage is an insidious practice followed even in big cities like Bangalore. The air quality is further worsened by practices like this. I feel for our citizens, especially the children, who breathe in this toxic air every moment of their lives. It is a sad reflection on our priorities in life. No point blaming only the politicians. There is no strong citizen oversight or protest against poor governance. People are always in the mind set that 'as long I and my family are fine, and my house is clean, it doesn't matter how the rest of the country lives'. This lack of pride in our surroundings, our environment, our country - this is going to hurt us and our future generations. "
I think the general idea is to make India a fertile ground for the medical industry, what better way than to destroy the water and the air quality to improve chances of cancer? You get your cancer cheap in India.
Is there a website which details the actions being taken at a national/statewide level to combat the issue? We grow up with polluted air, dirty water, horrendous noise levels and ugly landscape filled with trash and then wonder why we can't compete at the global level - be it in sport, business or any field that one can think of. Are we creating an increasingly weaker Indian? Sounds like we need public-private collaboration to take on the menace. Is information on how much the ruling party has set aside to combat this situation publicly available? It might interest some of the "young leaders" that our PM has called on to help this country.
I live in a place called senrayan palem amidst 30 acres forest developed by me in private as my contribution to environment in my own lands . That place is adjacent to Poondi reservoir which supplies drinking water to Chennai . It is surrounded by vast tracts of forests , grazing lands , waterbodies and hence the quality of air is much , much better than many places in India thoogh it is quite close to Chennai , 60 kms away .sO , I THINK THE AGED AND RETIRED PEOPLE MUST GO BACK TO SUCH PLACES TO LIVE AND KEEP THE CITIES FREEFOR THE YOUNG AND WORKING . THIS STEP , FURTHER HELPS THE HEALTH OF THE AGED AND THUS REDUCES THE NEED OF MEDICAL ATTENTION AND MEDICINES .
we all are equally responsible for this, hope by reading this each one should play some role to control the present situation, which in turn give us a fresh environment to our future .
See Dr. S.L. Jain's commment above. That is what is wrong with India and that is the kind of scholarship and misplaced pride that comes in the way of "cleaning up": never admit the truth, the lack of rationality, the fudging of anything to make oneself feel good, the 'mera Bharat mahaan' and chek de and India Shining kinds of self delusive mentality. This person has a title too and it's a "Dr." Of what, god knows! WHAT India are we leaving our children?
@Dr.S.L.Jain: China is also in the list. China is larger, industrialized and densely populated than India. Unfortunately, our institutions and officers are not performing their duty and have become pawn in the hands of politicians for material gains. Due to weak lengthy legal system and materialistic unions, industrialists are having a free-ride with an utter disregard to the community where they belong. By not participating in democracy majority of educated citizens in cities have also failed the nation. In short, it is a collective failure thus rendering injustice to the future generation.
The primary ways to solve this problem: (a) Automobile exhaust - We need to come out with very strict standard that limits the automobile exhaust generated. Extremely strict regulation for autos, tax, cabs to use hybrid and electric vehicles for transportation. (b) Traffic congestion and road conditions lead to even higher amount of emission per km traveled. Without making sufficient adjustment and improvement in road infrastructure emission is going to increase day-by-day. (c) Planning the city that the infrastructure, market, industries, good schools are distributed such that people need not travel long distance to reach their work/study place. (d) Enabling low-emission mass road transport or metro system in every city that has a population of more that 5 crore people is very important. (e) Developing many neighborhood parks and handing over these park maintenance to local community so that they are properly maintained. With more awareness, planning and action it possible to improve.
With 72% of its surface water contaminated (offical figure) and now having been shown to have 'the most toxic air' India must be one of most unlivable countries in the world. The blame for this have to be shared between the individual citizens and the corporation (buisiness and factories). The common practise in India of burning household rubbish in plastic bags and the discharge of the waste from restaurants and factories into the drains, canals and rivers result in this appalling situation. The corrective step should start in educating the children at home with further re-enforcement in schools. Changing the grown up's behaviour, who are already set in their bad habits is unlikely to work, unless we adopt 'Singapore methods' to correct the offenders.
It is just like someone has shown us our face in a mirror. Till now we were hiding by pretending that as we are having a great history so we are great (good will also work) even today life, but now that pride is being shattered now and then to show our true face. Someone agree or not with me, but it is the gospel truth that the sole reason behind our most of the problem is UNCONTROLLED POPULATION Legend has it, We never learned from our mistakes whether it was intrusion from foreign civilization in old context and our so called constitution which has more loop holes than the real laws. After freedom our forefather should have thought about the population control but they failed at their time and what we are doing now is just following the same steps. We/I can not hope for any law to curb the population from now-days politician and I hope we all know the reason why.
TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE BLAMING POLITICIANS.
First and foremost, politicians are not going to do anything on this. Now, once this is clear to you all, analyze who is going to affect from this polluted air? Politicians got 24hr AC with them which purifies the air. If you recall this proverb "necessity is the mother of all invention", everything will be clear. We are the one who breathe polluted air, we are the ones who are going to fall sick, we are the one who are going to pay huge medical bills, we are the one who can do everything to solve this problem because we are huge in NUMBERS. Number matters..Desicion is all yours,
Come on guys, this is our country. dis is our lives. commit to follow
good environmental friendly aspects. plz teach others when u find
someone is doing wrong. avoid using unnecessary papers. stop using
paper plates , and cups. plant more trees. but main concern is on
industrial wastes. these dirty politicians and officers eat money and
compromise with the environment. but there is a way out. government
has to contribute to the industrial waste management. it has to assign
a squard for these duties... come on we will try to protect as much as
possible.
I left India 15 years ago! NEVER EVER TO RETURN!!!!!!! The whole of
India is a big toxic garbage dump. Not one single footpath in the whole
country, is safe. Men urinating everywhere, small kids defecating in the
open, people living beside huge mounds of garbage on the street, its a
dump of a country. Bye Bye India. Was never proud to be Indian, am very
proud to be away from India and live a decent life in a Western country.
BTW India is also ranked third last among 122 nations in the quality of
potable water. Three things are needed to solve the problem; 1) government policy 2) dedication and law abidance by citizens and corporations and 3) technology to clean up existing mess.
We can not just blame someone responsible for this. Vehicles are the one
of the primary reasons for air pollution. Most of us use the vehicles
where we don't need to especially the two wheeler.
some vignettes from my recent trip to India: -people defecating by the side of the road enroute from Tiruchi to Kodaikanal. In one instance a man was defecating by the roadside in full view and some girls, unawares, were walking in his direction. -in Kodaikanal town, the overbearing stench of pee, rubbish and the sight of garish shops made me wonder how it is termed the princess of hill stations? it should be the 'cess of hill stations'. - when we went for a walk around Kodai lake a mother was holding her son who was defecating in the lake. -At Devil's kitchen lookout near Kodai, a typically loud and exuberant Indian family proclaimed how beautiful the scenery was and then promptly left their child's soiled nappy on the rocks after changing it. -a family with whom we had to share a dormitory at a holy place in North India regularly farted, belched, burped at night without any regard for other occupants.
Incredible India! Welcome to the land of the hypocrites!
Dear journalists.... Please don't distract our attention by publishing such articles. First, let we Indians develop economically, find best jobs, get a well-furnished house, settle the kids, etc. Then we will think about the so-called "menace" of plastics, pollutants, antibiotics, pesticide, shrinking vegetation, extincting species, etc.
Let us not worry about such trivia like environment and pollution. We Indians should concentrate on Sachin's 100th 100 or AB's grand-daddy-hood.
Yale and Columbia did the study...What are the IITs and IIMs going to do about it?
Just another shame for India.. Some days back a study found India 2nd last in Education Now another study shows India 1st in Toxic level. Studies on other issues like health, corruption, poverty, law&order has put India Top on shame list. Be a responsible citizen Take initiative at ur home &office. Educate people around u. Take part in activities for improvement. Let's work together for a better India.
When everything is dumped into the rivers and airwithout
discrimination, how can we presume the quality of water or air. There
are no controls, no checks whatsoever on people making pollution.
Evenif there are laws for vehicle pllution etc. people get away with
this by bribing the officials.. There are no recycling plants in the
profit minded industries, they just dump the debris in land, air and
water without any hesitatition. No matter what harm they make to the
environment, they are not asked to curb the environment as they pay
huge bribes, donations to political parties and make their way.. This
is shameful!!
The Gulf countries are rich sources of fuels,even they are not so polluted. I wonder what could have happened if India had been a rich source of petrol and oil and lacked a proximity of the Indian Ocean wherein the waste is eventually dumped.Problem is not with "You", "Me" , "Politicians" ,"Bollywood" or "Cricket"....The problem lies within "WE ,THE PEOPLE OF INDIA" .
I feel the ranking should be based on cities. We don't know the data were collected from which particular city or cities. More than 70% of India is rural area where we find plenty of trees and not much air pollution. May be the survey is just taking into account cities like Mumbai, Delhi, NCR regions, Bangalore, etc. But I feel this cannot represent the whole India. Please correct me if am wrong.
all of you Before putting your views/comment on this issue what are u doing for reducing Carbon Footprint. First think about it.
And, this result in decreasing life expectancy of human as well as animal life. This will go on upto when there are some natural minerals available, like fuel and gas are available. Once this will over..there may be horrific changes everywhere....& this day will come soon definitely.
Congress keeps on telling we did that and we did this and they have led to development. Realise the development they are talking about is in development of pollution, corruption, poverty and all evils.....
Unless and Until we have a control over the rising population, we cannot handle the other problems in India.
We, and no one else- neither politicians, nor anything else- are to blame.
We are a country of dumb and greedy people. 1)Do we give up our vehicles for public transport, cycles etc? NO! Why? Because cars are too convenient and reasonably affordable. 2) Do we care where our waste/drainage goes? NO! Why? Why should I bother.3) Do we know about effluents and how to stop them? NO! Why? That's none of my business. Forget everything, how much do each of us give back for the good of society? We simply dont have time for such rubbish, from our rat race for more money. We are yet to mature as citizens, though we continue to reap the benefits of globalization and free trade.
Many countries with lower GDP give priority on clean water, clear air,nutrition and health care and health promotion. In India, these subjects are alien to the leaders and to the public. The sheer mismanagment on waste products is a grave concern affecting India. There is nothing said about health promotion, let alone health care. India must vigoursly works towards, clear air, water. Safety aspect is totally ignored. Look at the roads in Kerala, they are the mine fields of death.
@Commenter Arun who says "Bye Bye India": Good you are living a 'decent'
life in a Western country but remember you have run away from your
country without helping it in any way.
I've tried to lower my carbon footprint. I moved to a place closer to work 5 months ago. Since then I have been cycling the 4.5Km distance everyday. I have had no major mishaps but the motorists can be nasty at time. I wear bright clothes and make sure that I have necessary lights when biking after sunset. I encourage other to follow suit. However, I reckon the impact will be minimal. What we need is a clear thrust from private enterprise esp. automotive and Industrial sector to embrace greener tech. The Govt. can help by framing policies that award these initiatives. These incentives by the Govt. must be tailored to encourage smaller businesses as well. We can surely make things better. Lets not lose hope there is always a solution.
Things to remember or consider while driving cars in Indian cities and savings one’s lungs: 1.While you have your a/c on keep the circulation switch on, thus preventing the exhaust fumes smoke smog from entering your car and to your lungs finally to the alveoli 2.Have a towel or handkerchief handy to tie around your nose 3.Change your car’s air filters once every month or more if your car is your 2nd home 4.Avoid driving during peak hours, support public transportation, less cars on road 5.Car-Pool every time and anytime possible, once again reducing the number of cars on the road 6.Plan your trips and avoid numerous trips thus reducing the number of cars on the roads 7.Long distance can always opt for public transportation 8.Perhaps web-meetings can avoid driving for face-to-face no advantage meetings 9.Choose a low emission car or more a hybrid or complete electric car.
Politicians benefit from huge industries. Industries make huge profits from consumers (the people) who are unwilling to even realize that stores these days charge extra for plastic bags because it is an effort towards an environmental cause. Lets stop buying so much stuff. If you buy, buy only what you need from smaller mom and pop stores and not massive chains stores. if you buy plastic (like bottles and cans) make sure you can find multiple uses for it instead of throwing it in the bin. Change happens in the heart. The question is, do we the people have one?
It is not only Air is polluted but also all the major factors starting from SOIL - WATER - SUNLIGHT - AIR - and SPACE (Atmospheres) is polluted beyond limits and INDIA as such is adding to the voe through its AGRICULTURE and CATTLE POPULATION and Waste management is immense in quantity. Whether you help the world or not but you have to live is the first preferance and should try to improve it through some descipline is the call of time.
The easiest ways to improve air quality is to use free solar energy when ever and where ever possible for what so ever purpose. Use cheaper electric traction and rotation instead of that by costly motor fuels. Use every drop of petro products efficiently keeping in mind that they are selling the nation to oil exporters and killing oil cos by massive under recoveries .Harvest free infinite rain water to sprinkle it in environment to settle dust particles when needed. Above four measures will not only clean environment but will also help in saving costs of energy and water to most important inputs of life so will solve all problems of the nation.
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