IITs told to bring projects on curbing pollution to Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Union HRD ministry has asked all the IITs to bring to Delhi their innovations on curbing air pollution, reflecting the urgency showed by the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister's Office.

The SC this week had specifically asked the Centre to seek the help of IITs to find a solution to the crisis.

The ministry has asked the IITs to inform it of their research to help tackle air, specifically in the National Capital Region, ET has learnt.

The Centre has asked the top institutes to station their prototypes and models at IIT Delhi for testing and possible scaling up for use by next year. The government has indicated it will help with funding these projects.

Among the IIT projects under consideration are mega air filter towers, advanced stubble disposal machinery, vehicle-mounted air filters, exhaust designs that trap particulate matter and ionisation of air at localised sites.

IIT Bombay proposes to set up a massive air filtration tower in the capital, drawing from a similar experiment by the University of Minnesota for China. IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi have collaborated with the university to help set up the large-scale air cleaning system for the capital.

CPCB officials told ET that it has approved the system and forwarded it to the Department of Science & Technology for financial approval.

IIT Bombay has informed the HRD ministry that it is working on an electrospray-based, unipolar ionisation system combined with filtration to help disperse pollutant particles from the air. It proposes to adapt a system that helps remove particulate matter and tar from biomass gasifiers to reduce harmful vehicular emissions from diesel engines.

IIT Delhi is testing an air ionisation project at its campus in Sonipat, Haryana. The idea is to disperse polluting particles that hang over the NCR due to poor wind speeds in winter by electrically charging air molecules.

IIT Delhi is supporting startups working on air filters that can be mounted on air-conditioners, industry-grade masks, retrofit devices for diesel engines to trap particulate matter emissions and air purification devices that can be installed on top of vehicles.

IIT Dhanbad, formerly known as the Indian School of Mines, has developed an exhaust pipe to reduce nanoparticle exposure and hence ground-level pollutants. It proposes to set up incineration hubs to collect agricultural waste and dispose of it with minimum emissions.

Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, has submitted several proposals including using stubble for cement/concrete asphalt manufacture and for production of electricity by an indigenously developed system.