The Delhi government in partnership with the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools will provide Rs 2 crore in seed funding to startups that come up with best sustainable solutions to curb rising air and water pollution levels in the capital.
The government has invited proposals from startups with their respective ground plans under the competition ‘Urban Labs Innovation Challenge: Delhi’, and has given March 2016 as the deadline for submission of proposals.
The Delhi Dialogue Commission started by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party will work with the Energy and Environment Lab at University of Chicago, Urban Labs and the Energy Policy Institute at University’s centre in Delhi to run and implement the project.
The competition will crowdsource the best local ideas to improve Delhi’s air and water quality, and the winning ideas will be tested in Delhi by a team of University of Chicago researchers and policymakers from the Delhi Dialogue Commission.
If successful, the ideas could become policy solutions the government could implement at a large scale, and may provide an important model for other cities to follow, according to a statement on the University of Chicago website.
The team of University of Chicago had earlier helped the Gujarat government in reducing pollution levels in the capital by as much as 28%.
According to World Health Organisation research and recent data, air quality in some cities in India, China and Pakistan, is dangerous and getting more dangerous by the day.
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