The World Health Organisation (WHO) has pegged air quality in most cities worldwide below its guidelines for safe levels, but India appears among the worst.

According to the UN agency’s latest pollution data, Delhi (not Beijing) tops the list of most polluted cities. Among the world’s 20 most polluted cities in the world, 13 are in India. Of the 13, three are in Punjab: Amritsar (no. 14), Ludhiana (no. 15) and Khanna (no. 20).

Ludhiana and Kanpur are among the 10 most polluted cities in the world, says the World Health Organisation.

Better Ludhiana: water pollution

Being an industrial hub, Ludhiana is flooded with various kinds of industries, which have provided bread and butter to lakhs of people not only from Punjab but also from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. At the same time, certain industries have proven to be the bane of Ludhiana as they have polluted the city to an alarming proportion.

The Union Government has approved a sewerage treatment plant and water supply scheme in Amritsar and integrated municipal solid waste management facilities in Ludhiana under Jawaharlal Nehru Nation

Environmentalists have slammed finance minister P. Chidambaram’s decision to cut taxes on cars, with the fuel-guzzling SUVs enjoying the biggest slash.

The delayed project of water supply has got the approval of the central government after continuous efforts made by the civic body for the past three years.

After adopting a dilly-dallying attitude for three years, the Centre finally approved a Rs 116-crore water supply project for Ludhiana today.

LUDHIANA: After being declared a "critically declared area for abstraction of water" by the Central Ground Water Authority, Ludhiana has bagged the attention of the National Green Tribunal that has