Drones to combat pollution

Drones can do good things too, they are not just weapons of war. Authorities in the Indian capital, New Delhi, have tested a prototype of a sprinkler drone to combat the most resistant points of air pollution. The metropolis of 30 million inhabitants is permanently enveloped in a cloud of toxic industrial and automobile gases, to which is added, at the beginning of each winter, the smoke released following the burning of stubble in neighboring states. Such gases cause the concentration of PM 2.5 particles - the most harmful - to increase to levels dozens of times higher than the norms recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to a scientific study published in June, air pollution is responsible for 11.5% of the mortality recorded in New Delhi, the equivalent of 12,000 deaths annually. Local authorities' efforts to combat air pollution have so far been largely ineffective. "We have studied various technological and practical solutions from around the world," said Gopal Rai, the city's environmental officer. "This drone is part of a pilot project by a private company. If the tests are successful, we will continue," he added. The city has put out a call for tenders for two more drones to form a fleet to cover the entire city, which covers 1,500 square kilometers. A technician told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity, that each drone can only release a maximum of 16 liters of water. "This is not a solution to air pollution," Sunil Dahiya, from the NGO Envirocatalysts, told AFP. "This is nothing more than a minor patch," he added. In recent years, the city of New Delhi has stepped up its efforts to combat air pollution, but without any real success. After encouraging drivers to turn off their engines when waiting at traffic lights, in 2021 it inaugurated a 25-meter-high tower equipped with fans that were supposed to filter 1,000 cubic meters of air per second. However, this project was quickly abandoned. "Stopping emissions (caused by pollution) at their source is much more important," Anumita Roychowdhury, of the Center for Environmental Science, told AFP.