What is a smog tower and why is it installed?

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated “India’s first smog tower in New Delhi on August 23. What is a smog tower and why is it installed? Let’s find out

Improve air quality

Smog is a type of intense air pollution that reduces visibility. It is a combination of harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, fine particulate matter, and ground-level ozone. Smog towers are installed to fight pollution and to filter and purify air. As we all know, Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world. In a bid to control pollution levels, the Delhi government has installed a smog tower at Connaught Place on an experimental basis. If the pilot project is found to yield results, many such structures can be expected to come up around the capital.

The 24-metre tall steel-and-concrete smog tower, built at a cost of Rs. 20 crore, has 40 huge fans and 5,000 filters. It will suck in polluted air from above and pass it through filters fitted at the bottom. It is believed to be able to purify up to 1,000 cubic metres of air every second within a radius of one kilometre. While the technology has been imported from America, the tower has been built by Tata Projects Limited with technical support from IIT-Delhi and IIT-Mumbai, which will analyse its data. National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCC) is the project management consultant.

The smog tower is expected to operate at full capacity” after the monsoon season. A control room has been up at the site to monitor its operations A two-year pilot study will ascertain the efficacy of the tower

Background

The Supreme Court in January 2020 had directed the Central government to construct a smog tower to reduce pollution at Anand Vihar, and the Delhi government to install another such structure at Connaught Place. “IQAir”, a Switzerland-based company that measures air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5, had ranked Delhi the world’s most polluted capital for the third consecutive year in 2020. The smog tower, built by the Central government at Anand Vihar, is expected to become operational soon According to a 2019 estimate, the capital will need over 200 such anti-smog towers.

Experts’ take

The concept of smog towers does not find favour with some experts, who argue that the towers may provide immediate relief from air pollution in a small area, but are too expensive to set up. They also feel there is no scientific evidence to back the long-term benefits of smog towers. Instead renewable energy, should be promoted to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions.

Picture Credit : Google

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