Airtel, Ericsson, IIT Kanpur to monitor air quality in Jaipur

The low-cost Narrow Band-IoT based air quality sensors have been installed at 40 key locations in Jaipur. These sensors are compact, simple to install, and require minimal maintenance. The real-time data collected by the sensors is analyzed by RSPCB and displayed to the public at five identified locations in the city – Yadgar Jaipur; Near VKIA Police Station Jaipur; Govt. Secretariate Jaipur; Airport Sanganer Jaipur; and RSPCB Head Office Jhalana-Dungri Jaipur. These displayed data will include PM2.5, PM10, and air quality index (AQI) concentrations.

In addition to increased public awareness, this will support policy intervention, and enable corrective actions to be taken to reduce air pollution.

As part of the collaboration, IIT Kanpur is also launching a mobile app for easy access to the air quality data. This will not only help in understanding the generated data on PM and AQI in a more meaningful way but also aid in raising public awareness about air pollution levels among Jaipur residents.

Ms Veenu Gupta, Chairperson, Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board states, “I am very happy to launch this project and appreciate the efforts made by IIT Kanpur, Ericsson and Airtel in developing and supporting this low cost sensor network project in Jaipur. It will help in better understanding of the air quality of Jaipur and formulating a scientific action plan for control of air pollution in city”.

Prof. Sachchida Nand Tripathi, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kanpur said “The collaboration with Ericsson mainly by implementing NB IoT has helped sensors data transmissibility, reduced power consumption and increased battery life. This has resulted in more autonomous sensor network.”

Sonia Aplin, Head of Marketing & Communications, SCR and GIR, Ericsson South east Asia , Oceania and India states, “Having successfully deployed our NB-IoT sensor based solution for measuring air quality in Delhi, we are happy to scale and deploy this solution in Jaipur city. This project will enable Jaipur city to better manage the pollution levels by creating awareness amongst residents and authorities, leading to better air pollution management. At Ericsson, we are committed to working with partners across and beyond the ICT ecosystem to improve lives and build a sustainable future.”

Mr. Sundereshwaran Raman, Head of Digital Products, Airtel Business shared “Our mission is to leverage Airtel’s IoT capabilities for serving our customers and also for the larger good of the society. Pollution and climate change are critical agendas for all of us and we, at Airtel, are delighted to join forces with Ericsson, IIT-Kanpur and RSPCB to help improve air quality in the city.”

The partnership will also include working with community-based organizations to raise awareness regarding air pollution and steps that can be taken to reduce it. To date, 10 institutions, schools, and community groups have been paired with the initiative and 85 students have been trained as air quality champions to participate in monitoring and developing actions to reduce air pollution.

CT Bureau