A team from Kolkata has proposed that Delhi can reduce air pollution with vertical gardens.
In a city with some of the world's most poisonous air, a lack of space for greenery makes an alarming problem only worse for many of Delhi's 10 million residents.
But this could soon change if the proposal from a team of innovators from Kolkata comes through.
Shortlisted as one of the finalists in the Urban Labs Innovation Projects competition organized by the University of Chicago in collaboration with the Delhi Dialogue Commission, Capacloud Technologies has pitched the idea of vertical gardens - an innovation described by them as growing plants without soil.
"Slums of Delhi caught our attention due to rising air pollution," said Jayabrato Bhaduri, the founder of Capacloud Technologies.
"Wherever we have vertical spaces whether we look at walls, pillars, billboards, we could put vertical gardens," said a member of his team.
The vertical gardens developed by him and his team will also have special sensors to monitor pollution and absorb harmful gasses like methane and carbon monoxide.
They will also have a special mechanism for automated capillary action allowing plants to absorb nutrients even in the absence of soil.
The plan could help check the impact of city's toxic air where it is felt most - the slums where several other challenges overlap for the residents.
"Wherever you look, everywhere there is dirt and pollution," said a resident of a slum in North Delhi's Jahangirpuri area.
"Who doesn't want greenery? We all do, for our area and for our country," said another resident.