13 Indian cities most vulnerable to environmental hazards
PARIS 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, deadly heat waves, natural disasters and climate change, the report found.
The sinking megalopolis of Jakarta -- plagued by pollution, flooding and heat waves, with worse to come -- topped the ranking.
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 by Chennai (third), Agra (sixth), Kanpur (10th), Jaipur (22nd) and Lucknow (24th). Mumbai and its 12.5 million people is ranked 27th.
Looking only at air pollution -which causes more than 7 million premature deaths worldwide each year, including 1 million in India alone -- the 20 cities with the worst air quality in the world among urban areas of at least a million people are all in India. Delhi is in pole position.
“Together, China and India account for 286 million of the 336 million people living in cities at extreme risk for pollution,” the report found.