Five Northeastern States and Himachal Pradesh appraised as Most Environmentally Sustainable States

The Environmental Sustainable Index (ESI) 2011 released on 14 June 2012, appraised five northeastern states (Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Mijoram, Arunachal Pradesh) and Himachal Pradesh as the most environmentally sustainable states in the country. The index was released by Centre for Development Finance (CDF), affiliated to Institute for Financial Management and Research.

Among larger states, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal performed poorly on maximum of environmental indicators while Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka received high ratings. States with rich natural resources like Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar were rated moderate in the chart.

To gauge the environmental quality of the various states, ESI had referred to 41 key environmental indicators which were classified into nine thematic sub indices with respect to policy formulation. The sub indices included air quality and pollution, water quality and availability, land use and agriculture, forests and biodiversity, waste management, energy management, health impact, population pressure and environmental budget.