New Delhi, Nov. 20: India’s cities are the dirtiest in the world and would qualify for a Nobel Prize in filth if such an award existed, Jairam Ramesh, environment and forests minister, said today.

“If there was a Nobel Prize for dirt and filth, India would get it, no doubt,” Ramesh said, speaking at the launch of a report that describes current environmental challenges for India.

The report, prepared by The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi, cited India’s poor record of solid waste management in cities, inadequate resources for handling urban waste, and poor air quality.

An international business magazine had listed Mumbai as the seventh and Delhi as the 24th among the 25 dirtiest cities in the world.

Baku in Azerbaijan had taken the first prize and Dhaka the second.

Calcutta had been named the second densest in an earlier survey but somehow escaped the dirty list.