Why is India Still the World’s Dirtiest and Most Polluted Country? 104 years later, after Gandhi, it has all worsened The influential magazine “The Economist” recently carried a story about India’s environment “ “Why is India one of the most polluted countries on Earth” The “Economic Times” followed this with a story headlined “India alarmingly filthy even by standards of poor countries”. Nobody living here can deny it. Most of our lakes and rivers are severely poisoned with urban and chemical effluents. The air in most of the cities, particularly in North India is polluted well beyond the severe level prescribed.