Littering a huge challenge for city
New York/Mumbai: Mumbai and Delhi are among the 25 dirtiest cities in the world while the four Indian metros and Bangalore are among the 20 most dense cities, according to the Forbes magazine.
Mumbai is the seventh dirtiest in the world, the magazine said, while also citing a recent private sector proposal, Vision Mumbai, which seeks $1 billion government aid for infrastructure, pollution control and economic growth strategy.
Assistant municipal commissioner Vijay Balamwar, the A-ward officer, declined comment on the report but said despite the efforts taken by the BMC and putting maximum resources in solid waste management, it is the littering habit of the public that remains a huge challenge.
Delhi at No 24 fares a little better but gets a drubbing for pollution in the Yamuna, which is devoid of marine life and where garbage and sewage flow freely, creating a rich environment for the growth of water-borne diseases contributing to extremely high rates of infant morbidity.
The business magazine also lists Sukinda in Orissa and Vapi in Gujarat among the 10 most polluted places globally.
Narinder Nayar, chairman of Bombay First, challenged the study of Forbes and wanted to know what parameters was it based on. Nayar pointed out that three years ago, they had commissioned international consulting firm McKinsey to do a study, which benchmarked Mumbai with London, New York and Singapore.
The study for Bombay First showed it lagged behind in infrastructure and social services. But compared to most cities in developing countries, it was ahead on these fronts.
Weve been investing billions in improvement of city infrastructure like rail and road as well as water and sanitation and there is hope for the future, he said, pointing out that things have already begun to change in the infrastructure sector.
The top slot as the dirtiest city went to Baku in Azerbaijan. The list, now on the magazines website, is based on Mercer Human Resource Consultings ranking of over 200 cities worldwide on levels of air pollution, waste management, water potability, hospital services, medical supplies and the presence of infectious diseases. New York was used as the norm.
On the Forbes list of the 10 most polluted places on Earth, two Indian towns figure. In Sukinda, large swathes of the surface water and drinking water contain high covalent chromium levels, potentially affecting 2.6 million people, the magazine said. The other place is Vapi. AGENCIES & TNN
Mumbai is the seventh dirtiest in the world, the magazine said, while also citing a recent private sector proposal, Vision Mumbai, which seeks $1 billion government aid for infrastructure, pollution control and economic growth strategy.
Assistant municipal commissioner Vijay Balamwar, the A-ward officer, declined comment on the report but said despite the efforts taken by the BMC and putting maximum resources in solid waste management, it is the littering habit of the public that remains a huge challenge.
Delhi at No 24 fares a little better but gets a drubbing for pollution in the Yamuna, which is devoid of marine life and where garbage and sewage flow freely, creating a rich environment for the growth of water-borne diseases contributing to extremely high rates of infant morbidity.
The business magazine also lists Sukinda in Orissa and Vapi in Gujarat among the 10 most polluted places globally.
Narinder Nayar, chairman of Bombay First, challenged the study of Forbes and wanted to know what parameters was it based on. Nayar pointed out that three years ago, they had commissioned international consulting firm McKinsey to do a study, which benchmarked Mumbai with London, New York and Singapore.
The study for Bombay First showed it lagged behind in infrastructure and social services. But compared to most cities in developing countries, it was ahead on these fronts.
Weve been investing billions in improvement of city infrastructure like rail and road as well as water and sanitation and there is hope for the future, he said, pointing out that things have already begun to change in the infrastructure sector.
The top slot as the dirtiest city went to Baku in Azerbaijan. The list, now on the magazines website, is based on Mercer Human Resource Consultings ranking of over 200 cities worldwide on levels of air pollution, waste management, water potability, hospital services, medical supplies and the presence of infectious diseases. New York was used as the norm.
On the Forbes list of the 10 most polluted places on Earth, two Indian towns figure. In Sukinda, large swathes of the surface water and drinking water contain high covalent chromium levels, potentially affecting 2.6 million people, the magazine said. The other place is Vapi. AGENCIES & TNN
HARSH TRUTH: A Forbes report has ranked Mumbai as the seventh dirtiest in the world