New Delhi, May 6 (PTI) The Delhi government will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the AIRAWAT Research Foundation (ARF), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, to explore and enable the use of advanced AI-based technologies for air quality monitoring, analysis and decision-making in Delhi, officials said on Wednesday.
The proposed MoU aims to create a collaborative framework between the Delhi Environment Department and ARF for designing, developing and operationalising AI-driven, sensor-enabled and analytics-based systems to monitor, manage and reduce air pollution in the city, officials said.
Speaking on the initiative, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said Delhi needs technology-backed, transparent and actionable
solutions to deal with the long-standing challenge of air pollution.
“Our government is committed to using every credible scientific and technological tool available to protect the health of Delhi’s citizens. This MoU with ARF reflects our resolve to build a smarter, more responsive environmental governance system,” Sirsa said.
Officials said the partnership will support key areas such as hyper-local air quality monitoring, predictive forecasting, source attribution, decision-support systems, policy support and capacity building.
They said the broader objective is to strengthen evidence-based governance, improve ambient air quality and promote public health and environmental well-being.
Sirsa emphasised that the collaboration is designed to unlock research-led possibilities without placing any immediate financial burden on the government.
“At the MoU stage, there is no financial commitment from the Department of Environment. This is primarily a knowledge partnership, aimed at studying the potential of AI-based air quality technologies developed by ARF,” he said.
Sirsa underlined that the partnership is not limited to technology deployment but also aims to strengthen institutional capacity within the government system.
“We want Delhi’s pollution response to be driven by data, guided by science and supported by robust institutional coordination,” he said.
The proposed collaboration is expected to help the government generate sharper insights into pollution patterns, identify localised pollution sources and enable timely interventions, officials said.
By combining AI, sensors and analytics, the initiative seeks to build a stronger scientific foundation for policy formulation and on-ground action in Delhi, he said.
Reiterating the government’s commitment to public health, Sirsa said every effort would be made to ensure that Delhi’s environmental policy is guided by reliable evidence and practical outcomes.
“Our objective is simple but ambitious: Cleaner air, healthier citizens and a governance model that uses technology to serve people better,” he said. PTI AHD ASD ASD
