Company will work with the Govt. for 3 months.
By Sreekanth A Nair
The Delhi government has sought the help of International Business Machine Corp., (IBM) to study the effect of vehicular traffic on the quality of air in Delhi.
IBM will work with Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC), an advisory body created by the Delhi government, for a period of three months as a pilot project. The move is aimed at reducing air pollution in the national capital since the pollution in the region has reached alarming levels.
During the three month period, IBM will study air pollution in the city with the help of sensors and satellite monitoring technology.
Sensors will be placed in different locations to measure the level of pollution created by vehicles and satellite monitoring technology will be used to find out sources of pollution other than vehicular traffic.
The study is expected to give insight to the government into the various aspects of air pollution and will also give recommendations to tackle pollution and improve air quality.
The Times of India quoted Ramesh Gopinath, vice president and chief technology officer of IBM Research, India as saying, “Vehicular traffic and dust are two main sources of pollution in the national capital. The study will help policymakers come up with ways to deal with it.”
“The study will provide greater insight about the complex and dynamic nature of air pollution in the city and help identify sustainable methods for improving the outlook in the short and long term,” he added.
DDC vice chairman Ashish Khetan said to The Times of India that “to optimize the government’s action plan to tackle air pollution, we need accurate, real-time insight about the situation on the ground and a better understanding of how to respond in the most effective and sustainable way.”
The state government has already implemented a vehicle rationing program that prevents vehicles with even and odd registration numbers on alternate days, as a measure to reduce air pollution.
IBM, the US-based technology giant has already developed an artificial intelligence system to reduce air pollution in Beijing and also extended help to many other cities in China.