AIR, WATER, garbage, radon toxicity, sludge, noise. More than a part of our daily lives, these are perennial if hackneyed jargon. Few people would love to begin their mornings with them, fewer would care to read about them and even fewer disgruntled citizens would care to buy a book and read about them. But notwithstanding the lack of novelty in environmental hazards, the fact remains that they are real and growing. And we have only ourselves to blame.

The book under consideration in this case is no stunner. But it's no bore either. So often things told simply go well with fundamental things. Towards A Clean Delhi -- Cleaner India does that and that's all that's required of it.

The book talks of Delhi's glorious past. There is also a mention of Delhi in the past as a city of gardens. While the Delhiite suffocates in nostalgia, the book tries to find ways of turning Delhi back into a city of gardens. And with lots of charts, figures and illustrations, it comes through like a breath of fresh air in the midst of chaotic environmental theories and jargon.