NEERI launched
country’s first interactive online repository - IndAIR (Indian Air quality
Studies Interactive Repository)
The Council
of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR)’s National Environmental Engineering
Research Institute (NEERI) on Wednesday launched what it said was the country’s
first interactive online repository, IndAIR (Indian Air quality Studies
Interactive Repository).
Dr Rakesh Kumar, Director of CSIR-NEERI said the aim of the project is to make
air quality research available to everyone. NEERI has been working to develop a
web repository of all the research that has been done on the subject in the
country.
IndAIR has
archived approximately 700 scanned documents from pre-Internet times
(1950-1999), 1,215 research articles, 170 reports and case studies, 100 cases
and over 2,000 statutes to provide the history of air pollution research and
legislation in the country. This includes all major legislation in the country
dating back to 1905.
The endeavour
will be the first comprehensive effort to inventorise surviving Indian research
and analysis on air pollution, its causes and effects and present these studies
in an easily accessible web format for the media, researchers and academics.
It took 22 people and 11 months to give shape to IndAIR. This included
procuring archived material from various institutions across the country,
looking into studies available outside the Internet domain, developing the
website and interviewing experts across India to comprehend the scope of the
history and the project. The endeavour received support from institutions such
as the National Institute of Science, Communication and Information Resources
(NISCAIR), Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) and National Archives of India
(NAI). Institutions such as The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB) also partnered with NEERI for the project.
“Several
documents related to the research on air pollution were not in the public domain.
We have digitised them,” Kumar said.
He further
said there were examples when government agencies were able to regulate the
emission of pollutants from industries. He cited an example of Chembur in
Mumbai being critically polluted in the 1970s and 80s.
“After
computer modelling, we arrived at estimates as to what was the likely amount of
pollutants in the air due to emission from industries. We were able to set
emission control limits for these industries, which later helped clean up the
air,” Kumar told The Indian Express .
He pointed
out that previously, it was difficult to import anything and hence air quality
instruments were fabricated and designed in the country. “Now we are getting
sensors which are perhaps not tested and getting all kind of numbers related to
air quality. We are creating a hotchpotch situation and need to be responsible
when we are looking at numbers,” Kumar said.
Referring to
the current “emergency-like” situation due to severe air quality in Delhi, the
NEERI director said it was an “episodic” situation.
Regards
Mr.
Pralhad Jadhav
Master of
Library & Information Science (NET Qualified)
Research
Scholar (IGNOU)
Senior
Manager @ Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
Mobile @ 9665911593
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