Get air quality levels with a single Tweet

Millions of Indians across 17 cities can now access & monitor the quality of the air they breathe with a single Tweet. @TwitterIndia in partnership with non-profit data journalism initiative, @IndiaSpend has launched #Breathe, an independent and real-time air quality monitoring public service initiative on Twitter.

By Tweeting #Breathe , people can access air quality levels in Agra, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Delhi NCR, Gandhinagar, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi and Varanasi.

On Tweeting, people get an immediate visual Tweet in the form of an infographic card with the latest measurement of the air quality from a sensor closest to their location. The infographic comprises of Air Quality Index, air quality levels, reading of particulate matters 2.5 and 10, along with the possible impact this air will have on their health.

The visual notification card you receive as an auto-reply from @IndiaSpendAir after Tweeting #Breathe

#Breathe is a public service initiative aimed at leveraging technology to provide citizens, institutions, media and civil society organizations with real-time air quality data to catalyze participative engagement around the issue of air pollution within communities, municipalities, state and central governments. With #Breathe, Twitter & India Spend are democratising access to air pollution data to empower Indians with real time awareness and knowledge that can help them make healthier living decisions. #Breathe is yet another example of Twitter’s role as a daily utility service for citizens that continues to be the best place to know what is happening right now.

#Breathe was launched in 2015 as a pure sensor and data journalism initiative using low-cost indigenously-developed monitoring devices. In the absence of independent real-time data to provide substance for IndiaSpend’s editorial efforts, we set up a network of monitoring stations. Clean air is a public good and every citizen in this country is entitled to this basic right. Dialogue on issues that matter to rule of law and basic governance when grounded in data and backed by facts will change the discourse and hopefully result in effective and transparent policies.

Govindraj Ethiraj, (@govindethiraj) founder of IndiaSpend

During the initial launch of #Breathe in April on #EarthDay, people in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore were able to monitor the air quality in their neighbourhoods, and the pilot of this launch recorded 100,000 Tweets for the month of April alone.

Here’s how people have been using the hashtag service campaign, #Breathe, to check air quality levels in their neighbourhoods: