In India, as in other developing countries, intensive industrialization followed by urbanization has now attracted the attention of urban ecologists to the issues of ecological degradation. An attempt has been made in this study to examine not only the issues of industrial pollution, patterns of human settlement and land use in the city, but also to investigate the processes that have contributed to the deteriorating quality of life in Indian cities. Apart from the problem of industrial pollution, this study demonstrates how the social structure of a city also contributes to its environmental decay.