Scientist Dr Sachida Nand Tripathi says MANAS platform will help BMC pinpoint specific air pollution hotspots, peak hours, and recurring problem areas

With concerns over the air quality rising, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched a platform powered by artificial intelligence to track Mumbai’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI). Dr Sachida Nand Tripathi, a scientist and professor at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur and steering committee member of the Union environment ministry’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), speaks to Sadaf Modak about how Mumbai Air Network for Advanced Sciences (MANAS) will work and how air quality can be monitored better. The MANAS platform, launched in Mumbai to track the AQI, is slated to provide more micro-level data through its sensors. How efficiently will authorities be able to track AQI with it compared to the existing systems? Dr Sachida Nand Tripathi: The network will