The U.S. Consulate General in Kolkata, in partnership with Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT-TBI) hosted a 48-hour non-stop air quality hackathon ‘Air-O-Thon’ – a program designed to find innovative, sustainable, and implementable solutions to address the air pollution problem in the Eastern and Northeastern part of India.

The consulate has informed, that the event was held at the iLead College in Kolkata and the top three winners will get an opportunity to develop and validate their product over a period of six months across three states.

Inaugurating the event, Adrian Pratt, director, American Center, Kolkata, said, the U.S. Consulate General Kolkata, following the U.S. Department of State, regularly engages with the local government, pollution control boards, policymakers, civil society members, students, academic institutions and other partners to work together and find ways to improve the air quality across East and Northeast India.

The 20 selected teams were from West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Manipur, Assam, and Sikkim. The teams were shortlisted from 100 ideas received from the seven states. The top three ideas in Kolkata were selected by the jury, consisting of Mr. V.K. Rai, scientist, TDB, department of Science and Technology, GOI, Tapan Gandhi, professor of electrical and biomedical engineering, IIT Delhi, and Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay, VC of Sister Nivedita University, Kolkata.

The top three ideas will be provided support to complete their product development and product validation over a period of six months across three cities. The ideas would be validated by the Pollution Control Board and then be recommended for large-scale implementation.

Gloria Berbena, Minister Counselor for Public Affairs, U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, said, “The U.S. Consulate Kolkata has supported environmental diplomacy and advocacy in the local community for the last several years. We have also convened several high-level talks and discussions with experts and policymakers on the issue of air quality in Kolkata. They have spoken about the need for technology-supported solutions to the problem to educate people and change their behaviour.”