The funds will be used to support research proposals by scientists and engineers in India and the US to develop pollution sensors that would be easier and less expensive to deploy than existing instruments and be capable of wirelessly transmitting their readings in real-time.

"We're aiming for a new generation of sensors that would be easy to scale up for wide deployment," JitendraChaddah, director for strategic development and operations with Intel India, said on Thursday. The research will seek to improve the density and reliability of sensors to monitor air pollution and the quality of river water, he said.

The initiative comes amid long-standing concerns that cities and towns across the country have unacceptably high levels of air pollution that threaten human health and town municipalities along key rivers, including the Ganga, discharge inadequately treated sewage into the rivers. An international research project called the Global Burden of Diseases led by scientists at the University of Washington in the US has estimated that air pollution contributes to about 620,000 premature deaths in India each year.

The Central Pollution Control Board and similar state agencies are already engaged in monitoring air and water quality monitoring but the existing technologies have certain limitations. "The high cost of sensors at times allows limited sampling along stretches of rivers," said Ashutosh Sharma, the science and technology secretary.

"We're looking for miniaturized sensors that could be deployed in the hundreds that would not need maintainence or power and that would automatically relay their data to servers," he said. "Such real-time data would help in improved decision-making and governance relating to air and water pollution."

Under the initiative, India's department of science and technology and Intel will issue a joint call for research proposals from academic institutions in India and the US. Researchers, ideally with complementary skills, in both countries would be expected to pool their talents and develop the new sensors and associated technologies.

The proposed new dense networks of air and water monitoring sensors are expected to over time replace the current practice of monitoring through localized stations. The real-time availability of air and water quality data is expected to speed up decision times for corrective measures.

"The availability of real-time air pollution levels from a large and dense network of sensors is also expected to improve forecasts of air quality over cities," a science ministry official said.Along rivers that receive industrial effluents, such sensor networks will serve to analyse impact of actions taken by industries.