Environment seems to be the top priority on the people's mind with 90 percent Indians believing climate change is a reality, according to TERI's Environmental Survey 2014 released Tuesday.
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) survey says 41 percent middle income group people advocate environment should be prioritised compared to development.
In Delhi, over 90 percent respondents said climate change is occuring, 95 percent felt temperatures are increasing and 64 percent said rainfall is declining, the survey revealed.
It also said water is being wasted nationwide.
Ninety-five percent of the 11,214 respondents in eight cities said water is being wasted.
Among the reasons for wastage, 70 percent said the pattern of usage by the citizens cause wastage as people generally use more water than required.
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Sixty percent of the people identified leakages from taps at home as a reason whereas 50 percent of those surveyed cited leakages during distribution as a cause.
Seventy-three percent people depend on municipal water supply, the survey said.
It added overall 50 percent people are treating water before consuming while 32 percent from low income group are not treating it before using it for drinking or cooking.
The survey found waste management is an important factor in overall cleanliness of the city.
According to 88 percent of the respondents in Delhi, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur and Pune, improper waste management has severe health impacts. However, 87 percent respondents said garbage is being collected from their homes.
When asked about their opinion on the best strategy to manage waste, 75 percent people said generating less waste will help while 14 percent opined improving waste recycling quality is the solution.
In the national capital, 50 percent people favour prioritising environment over development.
Ninety-seven percent are in favour of a ban on use of polythene bags while 17 percent expressed their willingness to pay the actual cost of water.
R.K. Pachauri, director general of TERI, said improvement in environment is linked to awareness in public.
"If we want to bring about improvement in environmental quality, then the foundation of any such effort will rest on public awareness," Pachauri said in a video message.
Prodipto Ghosh, distingished fellow, TERI, who was present at the launch of the survey findings, said: "The survey will be of immense value to policy makers in identifying areas where sound environment management policy can play a significant role, and where greater efforts of outreach and awareness building are necessary."