The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) is crying hoarse for resources and over fund constraints to address the environmental issues plaguing the country even as the situation deteriorates rapidly.

According to a new report of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), waste disposal and waste management is worsening and forest and green cover declining rapidly in India’s six metropolises.

“For tier-I and -II cities of India, the ministry requirement to fix problem in waste disposal is Rs 26,000 crore but the budget is just Rs 500 crore,” MoEF secretary V Rajagopalan said while releasing the Teri report on Monday.

The current gap in treatment capacity in tier-I and tier-II cities is 26,000 million litres per day (MLD). Water waste generation in these cities is 36,000 MLD while only 10,000 MLD is treated, Rajagopalan said. “The water treatment gap is so high while budget is so low – at this rate it will take a long time,” he said.

The Teri report is based on sample survey of 4,039 across six mega-cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad. It says: “Around 80 percent of the respondents from Delhi, 53 percent (from) Bengaluru, 33 percent (in) Hyderabad and 23 percent (from) Chennai felt that waste disposal and waste management has deteriorated.” The respondents suggested segregation of waste at the source followed by recycling and reducing the generation of waste.

“Segregation of waste is key to solve the problem,” Rajagopalan said.

He pointed out that India also lacks required funds for declining forest and green cover. “As per the national forest policy, the required forest cover for India is 33 percent (100 million hectares land). But we have just 23 percent forest cover (70 million hectares) in the country,” he said. “The gap to cover 30 million hectares requires funds to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore.”

The total fund required for Green India mission, meant to reach the 33-percent forest cover, is Rs 46,000 crore.

According to the Teri report, around 80 percent respondents from Delhi and nearly half the respondents from Bangalore and Chennai feel a decline in forest and green cover in their respective cities.

The report also points out the worsening air quality in the six cities surveyed. The report says it has become worse in the last five years, or has seen no change at all. “Transportation is the major source of air pollution, followed by factories in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai. Whereas in Bengaluru, factories were identified as the source of maximum air pollution followed by transportation, respondents in Hyderabad cited construction activities as a primary source of air pollution,” the report says.

It also says surface water quality seemed to have deteriorated in all cities except Mumbai. Five of the cities surveyed saw a fall in ground water availability (excluding Chennai), while the number of trees, birds and animals have declined in all six cities, the report notes.

It also talks about lack of awareness of government policies on air and water pollution, water availability, waste management, forest conservation and climate change.