IIT Delhi Works to Curb Increasing Air Pollution

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Delhi is developing a large number of solutions at its Center for Excellence in Clean Air Research (CERCA) to track and help reduce air pollution in India.
The most recent research conducted at the center includes the identification of the 10 best districts in Punjab and Haryana that are the main contributors to air pollution in northern India through stubble burning activities. All of northern India has struggled to breathe every fall for the past several years, keeping authorities on alert.
"Researchers are studying land air patterns and stubble burning in more than 50 districts in Punjab and Haryana. “This would help determine the districts responsible for maximum air pollution through the burning of stubble," said ET Arun Duggal, founder of CERCA, on the sidelines of a workshop organized on campus recently.
The other research work at the center includes taking lessons from the trip from other countries, such as China and Japan, which have significantly reduced the levels of air pollution in recent years.
"There are lessons that India can learn from these countries and accelerate the fight against pollution," said Duggal.
Solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI) are also being developed to forecast contamination levels in various parts of Delhi and the National Capital Region approximately two weeks in advance at the institute. The results of this research will be shared with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPPC) to implement solutions.
IIT Delhi is also working on a device to control the levels of air pollution.
The institute is currently running a pilot in which this device has been installed on the Delhi Transport Corporation buses.
"Once the pilot is finished, we will increase the monitoring area by placing more devices of this type," said Duggal. The device transfers real-time data on air quality to computers located on the IIT Delhi campus.
"The researchers make their observations based on the data collected," he said.
By: Preeti Narula
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