BIT Mesra secures Rs 2.4 crore govt grant for study on climate change, mental health

RANCHI: BIT Mesra on Tuesday said it has secured a Rs 2.4 crore government-funded research grant for a multi-institutional study on how climate change, environmental conditions and socio-economic factors affect the mental well-being of people in the country.

Led by BIT Mesra, the study will be conducted in collaboration with Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Sciences (RINPAS), BIT Noida, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Sikkim, and National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut, it said.

"The project integrates artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), geospatial science, and clinical psychology to develop predictive tools that can strengthen public health planning and early intervention systems. The research is designed to generate region-specific insights that can inform evidence-based public health strategies," the Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra said in its statement.

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BIT Mesra: CSE department will lead study

The institute said computer science engineering department assistant professor Dr Shamama Anwar (principal investigator) will lead the study. Anwar said, "We will employ structured surveys, wearable health devices, portable environmental sensors and advanced data analytics to investigate relationships among temperature variability, air quality, humidity, socioeconomic stress indicators, and mental health outcomes."

The team will use spatio-temporal techniques, based on machine learning, to create AI/ML-based predictive models that are capable of detecting trends and forecasting probable mental health stress hotspots associated with climatic exposure, he added.

Dr Kirti Avishek, associate professor at the remote sensing and geoinformatics department of the institute, said, "A key outcome of the project will be a web-based GIS decision-support dashboard for policymakers and public health authorities."

The platform will enable authorities to visualise regional trends and support scenario-based planning for climate-sensitive mental health interventions, he said.