TWO INDIAN TOWNS AMONG WORLD'S MOST POLLUTED PLACES

Forbes, the US Business magazine released the list of the World's 10 most polluted places. In that, two Indian Towns - Sukinda in Orissa and Vapi in Gujarat occupied the first two places. In Sukinda, large swathes of the surface water and the drinking water contain very high levels of covalent chromium , which affects 2.6 million people. Sukinda is home to nearly all of India's chromite ore deposits and the second largest industrial area in Asia. In Vapi, the chemicals and heavy metals from industrial estates affects almost 70,000 people. The Mercury level in the groundwater here is 96 times higher than the WHO (World health Organisation) standards. Local produce contains 60 times more heavy metals like chromium, copper, cadmium and zinc than the non-contaminated produce in control groups.