Wednesday, June 24, 1998 Published at 10:28 GMT 11:28 UK
The cost of the city
Cities in India suffer high road fatalities
Road accidents - the least-recognised of urban disasters - are set to become one of the biggest causes of death and disability in the world.
The hope of a job draws many people to cities of all sizes, and in poorer countries, the intensive urban crowding leads to huge environmental hazards.
The cost of road accidents to developing nations is said to be almost equivalent to the aid they receive, and according to experts, is likely to increase.
KT Ravindran, of the Delhi School of Planning, says that richer people are already fleeing cities to escape traffic and pollution.
"All these mega-cities that we see will be like dinosaurs. They are too big to survive," he said.
Bombay is a dramatic example of a city groaning under the pressure of its fast growth. It had a population of 2 million in 1950, but is expected to be home to nearly 28 million in the year 2015, more than half of them squatters.
The city and its roads are increasingly choked. Bombay's 5 million commuters travel in buses, cars, bicycles and motorised rickshaws - often in lethal proximity.