Lack of urbaneness has been found among most residents of Delhi by a survey, which points out that many of them excel in spitting, littering, misbehaviour and use abusive language.

The survey on 'Human Behaviour in Public Places,' conducted by students of the Anthropology Department of Delhi University, also found that encroachment on roads and other public land was a normal scene in most of the posh market areas in the city.

In Meher Chand Market, close to Lodhi Road in south Delhi, within a span of 40 minutes, the surveyor saw 19 people, including 18 men and a woman, who spat on the road. Similarly, another student, who surveyed the Chandni Chowk area, came across 49 people spitting in public places. They included 48 men and a woman.

"We have been surveying human behaviour in public places of Delhi for the last three years. We do not find a remarkable change in their attitude," head of the department P C Joshi, under whose guidance the survey was undertaken, told PTI.

The survey was started in 2004 and students of the department visited around 20 localities and observed the behaviour of the people. In 2005 and 2006, the students selected another 40 localities for the survey.

The findings of the survey in every locality were more or less the same. Littering was mostly done by middle-aged people, Joshi said.

For example, in Meher Chand market, the surveyors came across 16 people, including nine middle-aged people, who threw away fruit peels, paper, plastic packets and wrappers within an hour's time on a particular day.

In Chandni Chowk, 131 people were seen littering indiscriminately in the market in just half-an-hour. "In fact, there are not enough dustbins in the market area. Besides, littering seems to have become a bad habit of the people," Joshi said.

The common types of misbehaviour are using abusive or unparliamentary language and showing disrespect to women by passing lewd comments, whistling and making vulgar gestures, he said.

The survey found as many as 88 people misbehaving in Chandni Chowk market area within half-an-hour on the day the surveyors visited the place.

Encroachment is common in markets and other public places in the city, Joshi said.

"We did not find any market which is free from encroachment. People extend their houses and shops and encroach upon public space," he said.

The students also interviewed around 100 people in each locality, covering about 2,000 people in a year, and asked them various questions on safety, cleanliness, governance, cost of living and the overall amenities in Delhi.

In 2004, about 60 per cent of the respondents had said Delhi was the best city in the country, which increased to 72 per cent the next year and again declined to 59 per cent in 2006, Joshi said.