Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Mar 15: In bad news for the state government, Bengaluru has emerged as a city with one of the poorest infrastructures in the world, and the worst in country.

According to Mercer's global rankings for this year, the country's IT capital stands at a low 177, mainly due to poor public services and transport.

While Bengaluru was ranked the lowest in the country in terms of infrastructure, Delhi was ranked worst in the country in terms of quality of living, with a global rank of 161.

In a report published in Deccan Herald, Ruchika Pal, principal and India practice leader, Global Mobility, Mercer cited irregular power supply, frequent voltage changes, inadequate public transport, traffic congestion as the key reasons for Bengaluru's poor ranking.

Globally, Baghdad (230) and Port au Prince (231) ranked at the bottom for city infrastructure.

Hyderabad, on the other hand, has been ranked the best city in India in terms of quality of living, with a global rank of 144. On a global scale, Vienna is the best city to live in. It may be noted that Hyderabad was ranked 139th last year, which means it has fallen five spots this time.

Both Hyderabad and Pune ranked higher for quality of living than the countrys traditional business centres Mumbai and New Delhi, which have been ranked at 154 and 161, respectively, by the report.

While New Delhi scored well on account of its airport facility, availability of international schools and low probability of natural disasters, these positives were offset by a variety of negatives including a notorious crime rate, air pollution and water availability, the report said.

"Delhi continues to be challenged with increasing air pollution, owing to growing traffic and industrialisation. Delhis air is the worst among world megacities, even the World Health Organisation confirmed recently. Unfortunately, there has been no improvement in air quality," Ruchika Pal said.

Over time, cities like Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai have emerged as cities of choice due to factors such as relatively lower crime rate, lesser air pollution and improved options for international and reputable English speaking schools.

Pal noted that Indian cities that have been part of the survey have not made much progress on the quality of living scale since last year. The only exception is Chennai, whose score has marginally improved mainly on account of public transport, including buses and a recently expanded two-line metro system, and improved availability of expat housing.