New Delhi: Delhi and Mumbai are dirty and polluted while Chandigarh and Chennai are the most liveable cities in India. These are the results of an 18-city survey done by market research firm AC-Nielsen.

Chandigarh is on the tops with 144 points for being planned meticulously till the last detail. Every road, every tree, every drain was laid down on the plan chart when the city was designed.

Next in line is Chennai with 118 points. Kolkata and Bangalore follow with 108 points, national and commercial capitals Delhi and Mumbai are at par with 99 points each, Hyderabad is even lower with 98.

The survey rated the cities on 11 parameters - including drainage, greenery, cleanliness of roads, garbage disposal, air pollution, clean drinking water and public loos.

“There is less pollution and traffic is well organised,” says a resident.

All metros on the list do better than the Capital. The survey says there's a scarcity of clean drinking water in New Delhi, and cleanliness of roads and garbage disposal are also major problems.

Kolkata and Chennai are slightly better off than Delhi and Mumbai but residents of these cities are not particularly happy with their lot either.

But if there is a problem in the big metros, there is also a solution. “We should stop blaming the government and take up some initiative ourselves. This is my earnest appeal to everyone,” says a resident Ankit.