NEW DELHI: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has given a nod to seven research projects to assess their capability in mitigating menace of air pollution in Delhi-NCR. The projects will be run by top academic institutes which will provide technical expertise and explore workable solutions in controlling pollution.
The projects include Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning led tool for vehicle counting and Autonomous Drone Swarm Framework for Real Time Air Quality Monitoring and Pollutant Quantification in NCR hotspots, among others.
Headed by CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, the tool will count vehicles by uploading the CCTV footage on cloud platform, officials said. “The different range of traffic density will be used for training of AI Tool for vehicle counting. The 24 hours CCTV footage of different road sections will be uploaded for training the AI tool,” a senior official said.
The Autonomous Drone Swarm Framework for Real Time Air Quality Monitoring and Pollutant Quantification in NCR hotspots will be led by Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, Punjab. “The objective of the project is to develop an AI-based technique for flying drones in a specified trajectory with minimal human intervention for real-time air quality monitoring. The data will provide information about exact pollutant concentration at particular area/location in Delhi-NCR vis-à-vis prediction of air quality scenario,” an official said.
Another project, Decision Support System (DSS) for Air Quality Management in Delhi and its bordering districts in NCR, will be headed by IITM, Pune. “The objective is to provide quantification of the local, regional, and distant emission sources and provide possible emission reduction strategies to avoid air pollution in Delhi and its bordering districts,” the ministry added.
Meanwhile, SASTRA University, Thanjavur will work on the trial of in marketplaces in Delhi-NCR.
“The objective is to carry out trial by deploying the novel Air Purification System (APS) at a marketplace in Delhi-NCR to reduce harmful exposure of pollutants and reduce AQI by at least 25 to 50% in the target area.
This is a filterless technology based on Aerodynamics with no Ionization, high voltages and is suitable for hotspots and exposure reduction,” the official explained. According to CAQM, the successful completion of study will generate evidence based on a thorough scientific evaluation of retro fitment of two/three wheelers.