Roorkee – 247667, India

          bholafce@iitr.ernet.in

Brief Description of the Scientific Program

In South Asia one third of the 15 largest megacities are found, with a combined population of about 70 million, i.e. close to the urban population of Germany. Three of the largest and most rapidly growing of these megacities are in India (Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai). The economy in the Indian subcontinent is growing rapidly, and megacities are playing crucial roles as their relatively better infrastructure and skilled workers attract international businesses and investments, which enhance the overall employment capacity of these cities. The improving employment opportunities attract the rural population to migrate into the cities. Because of the growing industrial activities and energy use, the burgeoning megacities are growing into huge conglomerates of air pollution sources with local and global consequences for air quality and climate. The Max Planck Partner Group for Megacities & Global Change is conducting local-to-regional-to-global air quality and climate studies of South Asian megacity air pollution with a focus on quantifying the emission sources. We aim to conduct an integrated study of the emissions, their impacts and potential control options within this joint research group of MPIC Mainz (Germany) and IIT Roorkee (India).

     German Counterpart