*INDIA HAS WORLD'S 14 MOST POLLUTED CITIES* : WHO

NEW DELHI : Only a handful of India's 100 most polluted cities have drawn up plans to combat air pollution despite -

Being asked to do so three years ago, senior government officials said on Wednesday after a  damning report by the World Health Organization.

India is home to the world's 14 most polluted cities, the WHO said, based on the amount of particulate matter under 2.5 micrograms found in every cubic metre of air.

Environment ministry officials said the WHO's findings were embarrassing but not surprising.

''It hurts India's image, hurts the India story, hurts tourism, hurts medical tourism,'' said an official. lamenting that fewer than 30 cities had an action plan ready to fight air pollution.

''India will eventually overcome the problem, but my frustration is with the timeline.''

The ministry could spend about Rs 7 billion {$105 million} this fiscal year to help cities set up air-quality monitoring systems and buy equipment like  water-sprinklers  to settle dust, said the officials, who declined to be identified.

Officials said the environment ministry had asked municipalities to finalise anti-pollution plans quickly.

The ministry has also fixed six-month to two-year deadlines to set up monitoring stations in rural areas, run health impact studies and build air-quality forecasting systems, according to a government document.

Kanpur, a north Indian city of three million people, is the world's most polluted city, yet it only has one system to monitor air quality, whereas at least five are needed, said another environment ministry official. [Reuters].

The operational Research continues to Part 2.