India stinks. If at this misty time of year its capital, Delhi, smells
as if something is burns that is because many things are. From
the carcinogenic diesel that supplying three-quarters of the city's
motor fuel to the dirty coal that supplies most of its power to the
rice stalks that nearby farmers want to cleared after the harvest,
the rubbish dumps that perpetually smoulders, the 400,000 trees
that feed the city's crematoria each year and so on. All this combusting
makes Delhi's air the most noxious of any big city. It choked on
roughly twice as much fine dust that penetrates deep into lungs,
as Beijing. Delhi's deadly air is part of a wide crisis. Seventy percent
of surface water is taint. In the World Health Organisation's rankings of
air pollution, Indian cities claim 14 of the top 15 spots.