NEW DELHI: Buzzing Indian towns are slowly but surely becoming gas chambers. Leaving metros behind, towns like Raipur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Indore and Faridabad are topping the air pollution charts.
They figure among the 10 most polluted towns and cities across the country. The other five are Jharia (industrial area), Jalandhar, Alwar, Satna and Kota.
This report from the government has the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) calling for the government to wake up to the health crisis, leapfrog to cleaner fuel and better vehicle technology and shift to public transport, paying particular attention to the threat from diesel.
The time for incremental steps is over.Some pollutants are hardly monitored. Limited data shows dangerous levels of benzene in Kolkata and Kanpur, for instance.
Sporadic studies have shown a rise in asthma among children in Bangalore, chronic cough and chronic bronchitis in Mumbai, premature deaths in Chennai, respiratory disorders and allergies in Kolkata.
Delhiites have undergone chromosomal changes. For many towns now becoming pollution hotspots, there is even less health data.
The government ranked towns and cities ranked on the basis of respirable suspended particulate matter measured in residential areas in 2004, taking annual average concentrations.
On this count, Delhi comes 16th on a list of 52 towns and cities, Kolkata is 21st. Mumbai is 39th but Pune is at the 13th spot.
Each year, says a new book released by CSE on air pollution, India alone accounts for more than 0.1 million premature deaths.
The message, CSE says, is unambiguous. More smaller cities are being swamped by pollution, displacing metros which have tried to clean up their act at least partially.
