NEW DELHI: What will a greener, cleaner and pollution-free Delhi look like? Now, there is a way that residents can find out by virtually seeing the “future city”.
A group of non-government organisations working in the field of environment protection have come together to give Delhiites a glimpse into the future through an “augmented reality installation” placed near GTB Nagar Metro Station. The installation would be fully functional in the next few days.
This first-of-its-kind concept is an eight-feet-tall structure made out of biodegradable material equipped with an LED screen in the middle on the footpath in front of a police booth. A camera grabs your image and virtually transports it into the same location with well-organised traffic, pedestrian space, cycle lanes, more trees, electric vehicles and their charging points and less pollution with clean blue skies.
“The display offers to transport the audience in real-time to a mixed-reality future, one that is cleaner, healthier and pollution-free. The display will show a view of the same location, but with an augmented reality layer that showcases a sustainable version in the future,” said Rashmi Mishra, campaigner, air pollution and climate change, Jhatkaa.org.
This organisation, along with Young Leaders for Active Citizenship and other groups, has started an online petition for this future city campaign, which involves bringing the public and the authorities on the same page to save the environment.
“This initiative is good and I’m confident that it will create an impact on every person who experiences the future Delhi. We are hearing announcements from the authorities about electric vehicles, smog towers and other pollution combating methods, but it will be more impactful when one sees it through this installation,” said Gaurav Arora, a social media influencer.
Appurva Chauhan, a mobility champion who assisted the team in transporting the modalities, said, “People will get to see a better version of the location where they are standing with a cleaner mode of transport. This will change their mindset and hopefully help us build a cleaner Delhi in the future.”
The organisers said after Delhi, the installation would be set up at other locations across the country to showcase a particular city in the future.
“It’s a very good initiative. As youth have come together for a future city campaign, their connection will make this popular. We all have to work in unity to make the environment pollution free,” said Yogesh Verma, chairman, Keshavpuram zone, North Delhi Municipal Corporation, who inaugurated the installation.
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The issue of the ban on 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles in Delhi and NCR came up in the Lok Sabha when BJD’s Mahtab sought that the government either bring a bill to nullify the order of the green tribunal or approach the Supreme Court to review the ban.