China At Risk Of Losing Air Pollution Crown To India, Home To 13 Of Top 20 Dirtiest Cities
India may be lagging behind China on several economic indicators but when it comes to environmental degradation, the country has definitely outsmarted its giant neighbour. Of the world’s top 20 polluted cities, 13 are in India compared to just three in China. Air pollution slashes life expectancy by 3.2 years for the 660 million Indians who live in cities, including Delhi. In China, the corresponding dip is marginally lower at three years.
The Ganga and Yamuna are ranked among the world’s 10 most polluted rivers. China has just one. An evaluation in February ranked Vapi in Gujarat and Sukinda in Odisha among the 10 most environmentally-degraded zones in the world. China had no entries on the list.
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The impact of rising toxins in the air is clearly visible on an average Indian's life, as proved by a Lancet study in 2012 that ranked air pollution as the sixth biggest killer with an annual estimated toll of 66 million. A 2015 report by the Centre for Science and Environment, a Delhi-based NGO, says the decline in the country's overall environmental standards was because of river pollution, which is worse now than it was three decades ago, piling garbage in cities and increasingly toxic urban air.
"In India, environment degradation is a runaway problem impinging on public health an exacerbating poverty," says Sunita Narain, the NGO's director general. “We need to act and act fast ... otherwise the health cost would be enormous,” she added.
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http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-s-cities-more-polluted-than-china-but-there-is-still-hope/article1-1355013.aspx
