Sign In
Learn bits
Ecology & Environment
Admin

14/12/20 10:25 AM IST

Innovations for cleaner air

Context

India has made significant progress in monitoring air pollution. There are more than 250 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations and more than 800 ambient air quality monitoring stations operating across the country. Which shows India's concern for curbing air pollution

Positive Measures 
  • The budget allocation for air pollution increased substantially in 2020-21 from what it was in 2018-19 to ensure cleaner air in cities having populations above one million.
  • The establishment of the Commission for Air Quality Management with penal provisions against polluters in the NCR and adjoining areas is a welcome move.
  • India has jumped from BSIV to BSVI vehicles.
  • There is an increased focus on e-mobility.
  • Through the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, there has been an effort to reduce indoor air pollution in rural areas by increasing LPG coverage. 
Although above measures are helpful but India needs innovations to deliver on the promise of cleaner air in the immediate future.

Possible systems which can be used
  • The Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s PUSA Bio Decomposer, which turns crop residue into manure in 15-20 days, could become a cost-effective alternative to tackle stubble burning. 
  • Advance digital technologies can be used, such as geospatial technology and AI, to upgrade our capacities to identify, monitor, regulate and mitigate air pollution hotspots.
  • For instance, the GeoAI platform for brick kilns, developed by UNDP in partnership with the University of Nottingham, is supporting environment regulators to identify non-complaint brick kilns from space. 
Need of the hour
  • Innovations to address context-specific air pollution challenges.
  • There needs to be significant government support for enterprises to come up with scalable pollution abatement technologies.
  • Resources need to be allocated to support testing, certifying and scaling of innovative solutions and also to extend support for intellectual property rights protection.
  • It is equally important to mobilise private sector participation.
Source: The Hindu

More Related Current Affairs View All

09 Aug

Cabinet approves continuation of Targeted Subsidy for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Consumers

'The government has approved the continuation of targeted subsidies for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana consumers for the year 2025-26 with the estimated cost of over 12 thousand cro

Read More

09 Aug

Cabinet approves Budgetary Support for Multidisciplinary Education and Research improvement in Technical Education (MERITE) Scheme

'The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to implement the Multidisciplinary Education and Research Improvement in Technical Education (MERITE) scheme in 275 institutions across t

Read More

09 Aug

Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)

' A month after the deadly Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad, where 241 of the 242 people onboard flight AI 171 died, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released a

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps