India’s AQI crisis sees no signs of abating. All across northern India, the winter season sees the AQI stay in the very hazardous category for months together across the big cities, small towns, and even villages of North India. AQI readings above 400 are routine, and one has come to regard a 150 AQI, which constitutes the poor category, as pretty much normal and par for the course. The fact that the high AQI levels have started getting reported from the sylvan hill towns nestled in the verdant Himalayas has shown that the AQI crisis threatens normal life across the length and breadth of North India and even beyond. For most of the harsh North Indian winter, even a satisfactory AQI of about 100 has become a pipe dream. How sick and pathetic is that? Clean air and water are basic necessities provided in abundance by nature, but the quest for rapid growth and development by a nation of a billion and a half people that aspires to be counted amongst the prosperous nations of the world has led to the defilement of the very air and water that ensure that they live long and healthy lives. The farmers who ensure food security for this vast nation cause a great deal of pollution with their annual stubble-burning projects, and the ongoing massive infrastructure development projects necessary for taking the economy to the next level also exacerbate the air pollution problem. Aware of the severe consequences of the short term and long term consequences of breathing highly polluted air, the government and the authorities in question try various means and methods to rein in the pollution. From restrictions placed on the movement of vehicles to phasing out of old and polluting cars to banning construction whenever the AQI levels become very high, spraying water droplets into the air, and even trying to create artificial rain, nothing seems to work. Can we not turn to AI, which is purported to change the very nature of the way human beings will live their lives in the times ahead, to stem the rot and come to our rescue? AI to the rescue? The various pollution-fighting measures presently put in place seem largely reactive and don’t seem to be part of a pre-planned, integrated process that could fight the menace in a holistic manner.  The recent failed attempt to create artificial rain over the national capital region with the view to bringing down air pollution is emblematic of this ham-handed approach to a crisis that shows not the slightest signs of abating. AI, with its outstanding predictive abilities, can be of great help in how we interact with and manage the environment. It can be put to great use in analyzing all the necessary data about where pollution originates and the likely times and regions it is likely to peak. This can help the government and authorities to plan ahead to combat the threat in the most effective manner possible. AI’s ability to study everything from satellite data and information sourced from various low-cost sensors to weather and emission data can help obtain precise street-level pollution updates, instead of city averages, empowering authorities to attempt to provide solutions at ground zero, making them far more effective than sweeping city-wide solutions. Besides, AI can help in making citizens sensitive to the prevailing AQI levels in their localities with the help of apps allowing them to take actions like staying indoors or wearing masks when venturing outside. AI’s greatest contribution in the fight against high AQI levels would be in coming up with holistic strategies to bring down and eliminate the causes of air pollution, rather than helping deal with its side effects. With the strides AI technology is making and the possibility of its making the best possible decisions on behalf of mankind, independent of human supervision, in the very near future, it is quite possible that it will present us with a growth and development model that does not lead to life-threatening air pollution, even in a country as populous as India. Feature Photo by Landiva Weber

India's AQI Crisis: Can AI Be Used to Solve It?

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