Tackling Air Pollution: Positive Indian Case Studies
Prana Air, a leading Indian company that specializes in air quality monitoring solutions, is a case study in how technology can be harnessed to work with different industries in addressing the issue of air pollution. The company has worked wand aided the likes of TATA Steel, Microsoft and Ola in finding the air pollution causes, extent of the pollution, and ways to tackle the same.
In Jamshedpur in the eastern part of India, where one fourth of the entire city is occupied by the TATA Steel plant, Prana, after making a preliminary study, installed 80 air quality monitors. These were aimed at monitoring hyoerlocal air quality index, and to pin point the specific processes within the TATA Steel plant that caused maximum localized pollution. Of these, 70 monitors were fitted with PM sensors and attached with a weather station. Tata’s fuel and environment management system was connected with the ambient pro air quality monitor that could take reading for PM, SO2, NO2, O3, CO, humidity and particulate count.
This resulted in real time air quality monitoring, cloud storage of the readings and data, easy connectivity, and reliable and accurate data collection. This was especially needed since the TATA Steel plant, a mini city in itself housed more than 30,000 people, of which 15% were children, necessitating all concerned to take strict air control measures.
This resulted in TATA taking mitigation measures as indicated from the readings gathered by Prana monitors, and which the Prana personnel interpreted and deciphered for them. Prana also made suggestions for the type of interventions that TATA should take, and this partnership between a tech enabled environmental company and the world’s sixth largest steel manufacturer bore positive health outcomes for the residents of TATA Steel colony.
So successful were the results that both companies took initiative to then install such monitors throughout Jamshedpur. TATA was generous to provide funding through its CSR unit and the entire city of Jamshedpur was fitted within a span of a year with air quality monitoring systems. The outline of the methodology adopted and its success can be read here.*
Prana has since gone onto working with Mocrosoft and Ola in a community project focussed on analysing street level air pollution. Ola Mobility Institute launched a pilot study to gauge vehicular emissions and entrapment of particles both within and outside moving vehicles. While kicrosoft provided the software and backend tracking for the same, Prana made available monitors and vehicular fitted devices for analysing PM2.5 levels in related to traffic load and speed of the traffic. Prana delivered custom made devices fitted with GPS tracking, that helped also map out colour trails. The results of his study that is being conducted in Delhi-NCR is projected to be rolled out to other parts of India as well once the pilot is concluded. The details of the project can be seen at this link.**
Thus we can conclude that research organizations, industries and tech platforms and software solution providers can come together to benefit the communities by enabling the air pollution to be monitored and controlled. This is a great contribution to society since the pollution affects everyone irrespective of age, gender and financial capability. Air being omnipresent and a necessity for life to sustain; it become all the more important that such projects are taken up by more socially conscious companies.
In Jamshedpur in the eastern part of India, where one fourth of the entire city is occupied by the TATA Steel plant, Prana, after making a preliminary study, installed 80 air quality monitors. These were aimed at monitoring hyoerlocal air quality index, and to pin point the specific processes within the TATA Steel plant that caused maximum localized pollution. Of these, 70 monitors were fitted with PM sensors and attached with a weather station. Tata’s fuel and environment management system was connected with the ambient pro air quality monitor that could take reading for PM, SO2, NO2, O3, CO, humidity and particulate count.
This resulted in real time air quality monitoring, cloud storage of the readings and data, easy connectivity, and reliable and accurate data collection. This was especially needed since the TATA Steel plant, a mini city in itself housed more than 30,000 people, of which 15% were children, necessitating all concerned to take strict air control measures.
This resulted in TATA taking mitigation measures as indicated from the readings gathered by Prana monitors, and which the Prana personnel interpreted and deciphered for them. Prana also made suggestions for the type of interventions that TATA should take, and this partnership between a tech enabled environmental company and the world’s sixth largest steel manufacturer bore positive health outcomes for the residents of TATA Steel colony.
So successful were the results that both companies took initiative to then install such monitors throughout Jamshedpur. TATA was generous to provide funding through its CSR unit and the entire city of Jamshedpur was fitted within a span of a year with air quality monitoring systems. The outline of the methodology adopted and its success can be read here.*
Prana has since gone onto working with Mocrosoft and Ola in a community project focussed on analysing street level air pollution. Ola Mobility Institute launched a pilot study to gauge vehicular emissions and entrapment of particles both within and outside moving vehicles. While kicrosoft provided the software and backend tracking for the same, Prana made available monitors and vehicular fitted devices for analysing PM2.5 levels in related to traffic load and speed of the traffic. Prana delivered custom made devices fitted with GPS tracking, that helped also map out colour trails. The results of his study that is being conducted in Delhi-NCR is projected to be rolled out to other parts of India as well once the pilot is concluded. The details of the project can be seen at this link.**
Thus we can conclude that research organizations, industries and tech platforms and software solution providers can come together to benefit the communities by enabling the air pollution to be monitored and controlled. This is a great contribution to society since the pollution affects everyone irrespective of age, gender and financial capability. Air being omnipresent and a necessity for life to sustain; it become all the more important that such projects are taken up by more socially conscious companies.
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