<story><title>NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent</title><url>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-06/nasa-images-show-toxic-air-challenge-choking-indian-subcontinent</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wrong_variable</author><text>The Irony !&lt;p&gt;When I went to India, I though to my-self the living standard in the villages were HIGHER then the cities.&lt;p&gt;The air in the villages were clean - it was much cooler weather due to not being trapped in the congested cities.&lt;p&gt;The village people though I was crazy to think that their village was a paradise, and everyone wanted to move to the city.&lt;p&gt;I think its a serious lack of education that India&amp;#x2F;Bangladesh will not learn easily. A large number of people need to die due to cancer for it be taken seriously, unfortunately.&lt;p&gt;We are talking about a country where chain smoking is really common !&lt;p&gt;And no I a person from the sub-continent so I am not being racist, just pointing out some of the terrible facts about why I am terrified of going back.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>pavanred</author><text>I do not think it is crazy for people of villages to think moving to the city is a good idea. It might seem pristine and like paradise to a person from a city visiting a village but for a person living in a village its a different story. It&amp;#x27;s not the environmental paradise they are trying to escape from, its mostly lack of opportunity. Most villages in India are agriculture based, and most of central and southern India does not have perennial rivers and solely depend on monsoons for irrigation. So, if monsoon fails (less or more than expected), so does their income for he year. Not to mention lack of education, transport, banking etc. I have been to villages where even now if you need education beyond middle school, you need to leave the village for a neighboring town. Not to mention the social pressures such as not having equal opportunities for women in villages where as in a city, it is common place and generally socially accepted for women to have jobs and careers.&lt;p&gt;I agree about smoking though, and specially the prevalence of the cheap cigarettes called &amp;quot;beedis&amp;quot;, these are simply tobacco rolled over in a tobacco leaf and do not even have filters. Being very cheap, it is consumed by the poorer people and when coupled with lack of education, I assume does contributes to lot of smoking related diseases.</text></comment>
<story><title>NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent</title><url>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-06/nasa-images-show-toxic-air-challenge-choking-indian-subcontinent</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wrong_variable</author><text>The Irony !&lt;p&gt;When I went to India, I though to my-self the living standard in the villages were HIGHER then the cities.&lt;p&gt;The air in the villages were clean - it was much cooler weather due to not being trapped in the congested cities.&lt;p&gt;The village people though I was crazy to think that their village was a paradise, and everyone wanted to move to the city.&lt;p&gt;I think its a serious lack of education that India&amp;#x2F;Bangladesh will not learn easily. A large number of people need to die due to cancer for it be taken seriously, unfortunately.&lt;p&gt;We are talking about a country where chain smoking is really common !&lt;p&gt;And no I a person from the sub-continent so I am not being racist, just pointing out some of the terrible facts about why I am terrified of going back.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>chdir</author><text>Vehicular pollution, construction dust, diesel generators are  a common problem in almost all big cities in India.&lt;p&gt;However you are looking at the advantages of villages as a visitor with a point of view towards being closer to nature. There are other problems in villages that you probably won&amp;#x27;t encounter unless you live there on a day to day basis. Finally, grass is always greener on the other side (holds true for both villages &amp;amp; city dwellers).&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; A large number of people need to die due to cancer for it be taken seriously&lt;p&gt;Cancer isn&amp;#x27;t uncommon in villages and city pollution isn&amp;#x27;t the only cause.</text></comment>