There’s air pollution in rural India too and IIT Kanpur will help us measure it
Most of you are aware that air pollution in India is one of the major factors contributing to our alarming climate change. While the urban areas are the major causes of concern, rural India too is no less affected, thanks to biomass burning and dependence on diesel-run gensets for electricity. Keeping this in mind, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, is on their way to establish a network of air-quality sensors to measure air pollution in rural India. This three-year project has been estimated to be to the tune of INR 19 crore. Here’s more about it.
IIT Kanpur’s air-quality sensors: An overview
As part of IIT-Kanpur’s recent initiative to measure air quality in rural India, as many as 1400 air-quality sensors will be installed in the rural blocks of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. This pilot project is expected to lay the foundation for a country-wide network of air-quality sensors, with respect to rural India. From what little is known so far, these sensors are both cost-effective and low-maintenance and can measure particulate matter (PM) of the size 10 micrometres (PM 10) and 2.5 micrometres (PM 2.5). Earlier in November 2020, these air-quality monitoring sensors had been installed in and around Delhi NCR, when the region was under an air emergency, apart from 30 other locations.
Far-reaching impact of this project
The benefits of this project will be wide and far-reaching. It will not only create a pan-India network but also guide local communities, policy makers and researchers to assess the ground situation pertaining to air pollution. According to several sources, air-quality data will be provided to them to enforce proactive measures and mitigate evidence-based policies to tackle the problem of air pollution.
Urban equivalent of this project
As is evident, urban India’ air quality was on the government’s radar long before the focus shifted to villages. As a result, in 2019, the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched to reach a target of 20 to 30 per cent reduction in particulate matter (PM) in the air by 2024. Interestingly, 2017 was chosen as the base year for comparison. Here’s another piece of interesting information for all you environment enthusiasts: As many as 122 cities were identified as the most polluted places of India, and were chosen as part of the initiative. In fact, as part of this launch, it was decided that the network of air-quality sensors would be expanded to the rural India as well.