To bolster measurement of air pollution in rural India, the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, is embarking on a $2.5 million project (₹19 crore) to install nearly 1,400 sensors in rural blocks of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The three-year pilot project is expected to pave the way for a national network of air quality sensors in rural India.
“The outcomes from this network will help local communities, policy makers and researchers understand the ground situation. Data from this network will also be made available in real-time to enable actionable and evidence-based decision-making,” said Sachidanand Tripathi, project leader and Professor at IIT-K.
Air pollution in India is largely framed as an urban blight though causes of pollution, such as biomass burning, and reliance on diesel gensets for electricity are worsening air quality in villages too.
