‘99 out of 100 most vulnerable cities are in Asia’

Of the 100 cities worldwide most vulnerable to environmental hazards, all but one are in Asia, and most are in India or China, according to a risk assessment published on Thursday.

Across the globe, more than 400 large cities with a total population of 1.5 billion are at “high” or “extreme” risk due to some mixture of life-shortening pollution, dwindling water supplies, heat waves, natural disasters and the climate crisis.

The sinking megalopolis of Jakarta - plagued by pollution, flooding and heat waves, with worse to come - topped the ranking, while two other Indonesian cities are in the top 10: Surabaya (4th) and Bandung (8th). Pakistan’s two biggest urban agglomerations, Karachi (12th) and Lahore (15th), are not far behind. But India, home to 13 of the world’s 20 most risk-laden cities, may face the most daunting future of any country.

Delhi ranks second on the global index of 576 cities compiled by business risk analysts Verisk Maplecroft, followed within India by Chennai (3rd), Agra (6th), Kanpur (10th), Jaipur (22nd) and Lucknow (24th).

Mumbai and its 12.5 million people is ranked 27th.