“In Delhi, everyone knows we have a pollution problem. Citizens who weren’t aware of it before the AAP government’s odd-even traffic scheme, are definitely aware of it now.But if you ask the average person what the air quality is like right now, in the places where he or she lives, works, and plays, very few will be able to answer you. And if you go outside of Delhi, where pollution has been a headline issue for two years, insight into India’s widespread air quality crisis is much more limited.
At Hindustan Times we believe that credible, relevant, and actionable data empowers you to make decisions about your health and to hold public representatives accountable for the policies that they adopt and implement.
Unfortunately, when it comes to air pollution, that kind of data has historically been hard to find, hard to make sense of, or just plain missing. To fill in some of the gaps, we have built a new platform to bring you timely, reliable, information. To do that, we have built an online map, which captures regular inputs from all of the government’s air-quality monitoring stations across the National Capital and around the country in one, easy-to-access website, which also works well on mobile phones.Monitoring this data will also aid you to spot any sudden changes in air quality, and follow up with action – putting on a certified mask, turning up your air purifier, or demanding action from authorities. It will also enable our newsroom teams to spot problems, identify trends, and investigate causes.
What’s next?
Over the next few weeks, we will be installing our own low-cost monitors in different parts of the city and adding their data to the map. We will be also be adding the data from the American Embassies and other reliable and relevant sources on our map. Our aim is to become one single destination for air quality in India.
We hope that our small effort will go a long way in improving the awareness on this issue, making information accessible.” Hindustan Times. Read it on delhiair.org.
delhiair.org - be informed and active about air quality in New Delhi, India 