Soon, a dedicated centre to track air, Yamuna pollution in real time in Delhi

Aiming to complete the set-up before this year’s winter, officials highlighted that ₹2 crore was specifically allocated for the monitoring mechanism.

Steps are afoot to establish an integrated command control centre (ICCC) to monitor air and Yamuna water pollution data in real time, and also register complaints regarding pollution, Delhi government officials said on Tuesday. The centre will come up on the ground floor of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC’s) IT Park at Shastri Park and a tender, with a stipulated construction timeline of four months, has been floated, they said.

Delhi air pollution Live Updates Vehicles zoom past the India Gate shrouded in fog on a winter morning, in New Delhi. (PTI/Representative)

Aiming to complete the set-up before this year’s winter, officials highlighted that ₹2 crore was specifically allocated for the monitoring mechanism and that it forms part of a broader ₹300-crore plan to combat pollution. They said that the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) also operates out of the same building, from the third floor.

“The ICCC will bring real-time pollution data from various government portals and websites, and integrate them with artificial intelligence (AI) under one dashboard,” an official, who did not wish to be named, said.

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the government was moving towards a clear, technology-driven push to control emissions. (HT GFX)

“The ICCC will draw pollution data from construction sites through the existing dust portal, get real-time data from industries through continuous emission monitoring systems, data from Delhi’s 46 air quality stations, as well as from the VAHAN portal. Further, we will be able to track mechanised sweepers and the government’s VAYU Rakshak vehicles, among others,” the official said.

A help desk will also be set up at the ICCC, along with a dedicated helpline number, for people to call or visit and lodge polluted-related complaints with the government.

Before this, Delhi was missing a central command room for air pollution, with a “Green War Room” usually set up ahead of the winter at the Delhi Secretariat. However, there was no permanent infrastructure, officials said.

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the government was moving towards a clear, technology-driven push to control emissions.

“We have the Innovation challenge, where 22 innovative technologies and ideas will be tested and assessed soon, for possible implementation to reduce pollution. The ICCC, in a similar way, will provide a central location to monitor technology using AI-driven dashboards and innovations that simplify data analysis and use,” he said.

The ICCC will also pull data from satellite feeds, such as ISRO and CREAMS, as well as scientific data and forecasts from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune.

A key component of the ICCC is integrating government applications that deal with pollution-related complaints, thus allowing coordinated on-ground efforts, the official said. “Data exchange and system interoperability will be done through secure APIs built and maintained within the AI-enabled ICCC integration framework,” said the official.

The applications and portals being integrated include the government’s Green Delhi app, live feed from the DPCC self-assessment portal, Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB’s) Sameer app and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD’s) 311 app.

“Once a complaint is received, our teams coordinate and monitor with on-ground officers. We will be able to see in real-time where VAYU Rakshaks are and which one is closest to the problem site, for immediate action,” said the official.

All complaints made to the helpline or physical help desk will be addressed on a real-time basis, the official said.