All nine Indian cities surveyed in an international study by the Population Crisis Committee (PCC) have ranked poorly in urban standards with high air pollution, infant mortality and inadequate access to basic amenities.
The survey covered 100 cities in the world with an estimated population of 23.5 lakh each on January 1, 1989.
Calcutta and New Delhi have scored the lowest in air quality among all the cities studied by the nonprofit organisation with one of 10 points each. Madras and Bombay scored three points each. Taipei, Sydney and Melbourne scored 10 out of 10.
The world’s largest city is Tokyo Yokohama with a population of 2.87 crore. The worst city to live in is Lagos (Nigeria). Close to it are Kingshasa (Zaire) and Kanpur (India). Th most livable are Melbourne (Australia), Montreal (Canada) and Seattle (USA).
The picture of living standards in India presented in the report is horrifying. Kanpur gets the lowest overall score of 33 on a scale of 100 in living standards, Calcutta is a point above at 34. Bombay and Pune score 35 each. Delhi 36. Bangalore, 37, Hyderabad 39, Madrasa 42 and Ahmedabad the country’s most livable city 43. Melbourne scores 86.
In Calcutta people spend half their earnings on food alone. In Bombay 57% and in Delhi 40% of the income is spent on food. Food accounts for only 13% of people’s income in Toronto and 15% in Melbourne.
Only 57% homes in Calcutta and 66% in Delhi have access to water and electricity. This figure is 85% in Bombay.
Eighty three infants per 1000 die in Lahore. These figures are 59 in Bombay, 46 in Calcutta and 40 in Delhi. Communications standards show Indian cities to be a nightmare. Calcutta, Kanpur and Madras have two telephones per 100 persons. Besides, there are frequent telecom strikes and “go slows”. The number is five for Bombay and Delhi. Calcutta is the noisiest city in the country.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 14, 1990
