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Indian officials lament inaction of cities with world's worst air
Only a handful of India's 100 most polluted cities have drawn up plans to combat air pollution despite being asked to do so three years ago, senior government officials said on Wednesday after a damning report by the World Health Organisation.
India is home to the world's 14 most polluted cities, the WHO said, based on the amount of particulate matter under 2.5 micrograms found in every cubic metre of air.
Environment ministry officials said the WHO's findings were embarrassing but not surprising. "It hurts India's image, hurts the India story, hurts tourism, hurts medical tourism," said one official, ruing that fewer than 30 cities had an action plan ready to fight air pollution. "India will eventually overcome the problem, but my frustration is with the timeline."
The ministry could spend about 7 billion rupees ($105 million) this fiscal year to help cities set up air-quality monitoring systems and buy equipment like water-sprinklers to settle dust, said the officials, who declined to be identified, citing government policy.
Kanpur is the world's most polluted city. #15 is Kuwait.
China breathes a sigh of relief, and then chokes.
WHO Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database (update 2016)
Also at Conde Nast Traveller.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @09:23PM
Diesel trucks, buses, and trains, two-cycle motorcycle engines (tuk-tuk), burning the garbage in the morning, dust storm from the northwest, on and on. But probably the biggest and most recent factor is the coal-burning power plants, and you can't blame them - they still experience regular power outage.