Rafique Aziz
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) has taken a crucial step in measuring air quality using state-of-the-art technology and AI-based software to understand the impact of air quality and take actions to tackle the threat of air pollution in the city. Today, the municipal corporation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to go for Hyper-Local Air Quality Monitoring with a Bhubaneshwar-based 'Aurassure' company having experience in monitoring air quality through the latest technology in four smart cities of the country. The project will be sponsored by Google LLC, it is learnt.
The CSMC municipal commissioner G Sreekanth said," We are leaving no stone unturned for effective implementation of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and Majhi Vasundhara to top the position in the Clean India Mission (Swachh Bharat Abhiyan). We are synchronising the talent of man and machine (technology) to achieve our desired goal. I and my team have vowed and aspire to make our city a haven, breathable and liveable destination, apart from impressing tourists visiting the city."
Aurassure's chief executive officer (CEO), Akanksha Priyadarshini said," In the past, we have Hyper-Local Air Quality Monitoring in Bhubaneshwar, Rourkela, Rajkot, and Chennai smart cities. Our survey revealed that the present air monitoring system in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) city needed to be upgraded and revamped. As per the MoU, we will be placing 30 sensor-based air monitoring devices. There will be no financial investment of CSMC in the first year. The project's capital cost along with the maintenance expenses for 12 months (one year) will be sponsored by Google LLC. The latter has given its nod to go ahead. The proposed solution to air quality monitoring in urban areas is a comprehensive approach that leverages the power of IoT-based sensor devices and artificial intelligence."
Under the project, a Hyperlocal Network of Air Quality and Green House Gas (GHG) sensor devices will be set up in the city. The sensors will be installed at different locations (like schools, colleges, hospitals residential areas, marketplaces, traffic junctions, and mobile transport systems (public buses) to monitor the pollution in the entire city. The data recorded through sensors will encourage the civic administration to take prompt decisions, and actions on the basis of evidence or early warnings and fulfil its commitment to protecting public health and the environment of the city (through improving air quality to overcome the threat of air pollution) and also conduct awareness campaigns sensitising citizens about the presence of unseen danger in the air. The MoU period is of five years.
An environmental expert Syed Asif Ali said, "This is indeed a good development as the sponsorer will provide manpower, machinery, and technology to monitor the air quality through AI-based sensors. Presently the weather stations in the city are operated manually. These state-of-the-art devices will help us to keep an eye on the areawise increase in Co2 levels, PM 2.5 (released in gases form), and PM 10 (released in dust form). We will be getting data on different aspects of pollution regularly. The project will help CSMC to focus on the pollution hotspots and understand the source of air pollution; help maintain environmental sustainability and initiate promptly for citizens' well-being."
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Particles in the PM 2.5 size range are able to travel deeply into the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs. Exposure to fine particles can cause short-term health effects such as eye, nose, throat, and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, running nose, and shortness of breath.
Exposure to high concentrations of PM10 can result in a number of health impacts ranging from coughing and wheezing to asthma attacks and bronchitis to high blood pressure, heart attack, strokes, and premature death.
India saw over 23.5 lakh premature deaths due to pollution of all types -- including 16.7 lakh fatalities caused by air pollution -- in 2019, the highest among all countries globally, according to a new study published in The Lancet Planetary Health Journal.