It’s that time of the year again when farmers across Punjab and Haryana burn hectares of open fields to dispose off crop waste to prepare for the sowing of wheat for the next season.

This results in elevated pollution levels in bordering states, especially Delhi, which sees an increase in its AQI levels due to the rise of harmful particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and other greenhouse gases which affect more than 300 million Indians.

To battle the same, an Indian start-up is working on an AI-based platform called Zuri that it claims will be able to monitor and predict the adverse effects of stubble burning.

This will help the government assess districts that create the most pollution so that farmers there can be offered subsidies or provided aid to help them sell the crop waste to various industries instead of burning them.