Environmental indicators such as air quality, drinking water quality, surface water quality & availability, tree cover, number of bird species & insects in the city, and waste & waste management had worsened, suggest majority of people living in the urban areas.
According to a survey conducted by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in seven river cities of India- Cuttack, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Jabalpur, Surat, Varanasi, and Vijayawada, 80% of respondents opined that climate change is due to increased human activity. 82% of the respondents also perceived an increase in temperature and 81% of the respondents perceived an increase in occurrence of extreme events as reasons for climate change.
While 46% of the respondents felt that the overall water quality of the river flowing through their city was "poor", the survey suggests that nearly 78% of the respondents felt that the government's 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' will be a success in improving the quality of rivers flowing through the cities. Nearly 43% of the respondents held individual citizens mostly responsible for the current quality and hygiene of the river in their city.
If those who have been visiting the river banks regularly, 78% citizens say that there has been an increase in the amount of industrial effluents dumped into the river in the last one year. People added that youth should be identified as the most important group which should be targeted to improve the condition of the rivers.
Launching the findings of the survey, Acting Director-General TERI Dr Leena Srivastava said, "People's perceptions may or may not reflect reality; but they do reflect their confidence levels in governments, their engagement with common cause issues and their daily fears."
Distinguished Fellow at TERI Shri Prakash said, "The report clearly brings out the deep concern of people for saving environment irrespective of age, income level and educational standard. Also, the successive annual environmental surveys indicate a growing majority of the people who believe that the development and environment protection should be given equal emphasis and not pitted against each other."
Speaking on the overall environment, 60% of respondents believed that air quality and tree cover/green cover in their area of the city is worsening. 36% of the respondents in case of drinking water availability and 29% of the respondents each in case of drinking water quality and waste management perceived an improvement over the past five years. Over 30% of the respondents observed no changes in surface water and ground water quality and availability. 72% of the respondents strongly agreed to the statement that climate change directly impacts humans, while 18% 'somewhat agreed'.
The survey also suggests that people are worried that the quality of environment is directly affecting the health of people. 93% of the respondents opined that the quality of environment has an immediate impact on their health. 38% of the respondents identified water quality as an issue with the most visible impact on health; 32% identified waste and 30% of the respondents identified air quality.
While 89% respondents affirmed that the quality of river flowing through their city had an immediate impact on their health, 81% noted the existence of a link between river water and water-borne diseases.
Considering spreading of information over environment as vital, over 90% of the respondents identified Television as the most important source of information on environment-related issues and 32% identified this to be local/regional newspapers.
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