As Delhi breathes toxic air, Rs 23 crore-smog tower in Connaught Place ’locked up’

mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, Nov 03, 2023: As Delhi remains shrouded under a thick blanket of haze, the smog tower, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2021 amid much fanfare, is ’locked up’.

The Rs 23 crore-smog tower located in Connaught Place is not operational despite the fact that the national capital and its neighbouring areas are seeing hazardous air quality levels. According to experts, they have been found to be ineffective.

 

According to sources, there was a team of 10 people, including engineers, operators and helpers, managing the smog tower. However, the team was removed seven months ago.

The 24-metre tall smog tower had the capacity to clean 1,000 cubic metres of air within a one-kilometre radius per second. Equipped with 40 fans and 5,000 air filters, the tower sucks in polluted air and releases filtered air.

The smog tower in Connaught Place was installed on an experimental basis. Another smog tower was opened in Anand Vihar, one of the pollution hotspots in Delhi.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) had suggested the shutdown of the smog tower after a two-year-long project revealed that the reduction in Particulate Matter (PM) was only around 12 per cent to 13 per cent at a distance of 100 metres from the smog tower.

The committee suggested that the site be upgraded and used as an environmental and climate change innovation centre.

The study, carried out by IIT-Bombay, also found that the smog tower’s capacity to reduce the concentration of PM 2.5 and PM 10 was similarly low, even at distances of 300 metres and 500 metres.

The DPCC further stated that the impact of the tower was very limited when looking at macro air quality. It was noted that the tower would work more efficiently during peak pollution loading compared to less pollution loading. However, the data revealed that particulate pollution remained very high and not much impact was seen.

The smog tower was built under the supervision of IIT-Bombay and was funded by the DPCC. Tata Projects Limited and the National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) were also part of the project.

Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) skyrocketed from 351 at 10 am on Thursday to 471 at 9 am on Friday, falling in the severe category. As the AQI neared the 500 mark, several restrictions kicked in, including shutting down all government and private primary schools for two days.

The deterioration in the air quality is due to highly unfavourable meteorological conditions and a sharp spike in stubble-burning incidents in neighbouring states.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ’good’, 51 and 100 ’satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ’moderate’, 201 and 300 ’poor’, 301 and 400 ’very poor’, and 401 and 500 ’severe’.

Courtesy: India Today