BENGALURU: With “no comments” on city’s present state of traffic and air pollution, a group of five individuals and several volunteers from technology, health and management backgrounds are piloting a community-driven project to monitor air pollution in the city.
It was the 2012-World Health Organization report stating that 6,00,000 people died in the country because of air pollution that prompted the team to come up with this project, after learning basics from various different organizations.
Sensors without Borders, a non-profit initiative based in the city, has collaborated with Sensing Local, an urban planning and architectural firm, to check the quality of air the city breathes with their project titled Breathe Bengaluru.
The pilot project is ongoing and the final result will be published on a public forum by the end of this year. The result will be an evaluation of the city’s air-quality monitored since October 18 in the two major traffic intersections near BTM Circle. Open waste-burning areas and construction sites are also being tracked as sources for Particulate Matter (PM) count.
The screening for PM 2.5 and PM 10 is on going in BTM as of now.
Besides the data, interactions of the members with Bengalureans indicate a significant shrinking of tree cover in the city. The data processed has shown that ‘green islands’ in the city such as IISc, Cubbon Park and Lalbagh experience less air pollution besides having cooler temperature.
Even small parks cause significant difference in air quality. In fact the members thought that something was wrong with the device when it registered a “huge difference” in PM count at BTM traffic intersection and BTM park.
The device being used for pollution screening is a low-cost, handy, LCD-driven Optical Particle Counter (OPC), Dylos 1700, imported from the US and different air quality censor companies. The device is said to be effective but, while it will register the size of the particles, it cannot identify them.
Along with the device, the group is using publicly available readings from the Central Pollution Control Board and a privately funded device, which they do not want to name.
This small-scale pilot project will help “understand rising air pollution and study its impact on public health, urban environment, and its causality,” said Adithya Pasupuleti, project coordinator of Sensors Without Borders.
“Researchers and experts working on traffic patterns, air quality, technology, urban planning and transport planning, along with local communities will be roped in for suggestions, guidance and analysis of potential linkages between traffic emissions, air quality and health outcomes,” Adithya added.
The larger goal of the experiment, however, is to understand how data from air quality sensors, traffic patterns, and weather can be gathered using IoT technology and analysed for public benefit.
They will hold an orientation programme on November 6.