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Kanpur 7th most polluted city in the world: Time
The magazine referred to a 2006 World Bank study which placed Kanpur seventh in terms of air pollution.
The industrial city of Kanpur has been named the seventh most polluted city in the world, says a report in the "Time" magazine.
The latest issue of the magazine referred to a 2006 World Bank study which placed Kanpur seventh in terms of air pollution and in a report that detailed the most polluted places in four Asian countries, placed the city on top.
Kanpur, which it said fares worst among all Indian cities, was followed by Kitakyushu in Japan, Indonesian capital Jakarta and Chinese city of Xiangshan.
A survey in 2004 had found Kanpur was the most polluted city in India after Raipur, Jharia and Jalandhar, but in two years, due to a burgeoning population and increasing number of diesel-run vehicles it had surged to the top of the list.
The growing population of the city, it said, was one of the chief reasons for the worsening air condition.
While the average population growth in the country between 1991 to 2001 was 21.3 percent, Kanpur had registered 32.5 percent. In the next five years the numbers would increase by another five lakh, it said.
Transport vehicles and generators using diesel were adding to air pollution, while sewage water and waste from tannaries was polluting river Ganga.
City residents faced a range of problems from respiratory diseases and from drinking the river water, the report said.
Converting diesel vehicles to run on compressed natural gas could help lower air pollution in the near future, the magazine said while lauding the steps taken by the residents of the city.
