#DelhiSmog, the tag that usually gets trended in every winter due to increasingly hazardous air quality in Delhi, is now taken more seriously by the Indian Government, it seems.
And, recently the Supreme court has ordered the Government to install ‘smog towers’ at different parts of the capital city in the month of November 2019.
So, they’ve installed the giant smog tower aka air purifier in the capital to combat the air pollution levels.
This 20 ft tall air purifier is installed in the Lajpat Nagar market area in South Delhi.
This giant air purifier is erected on a 4 feet high platform and that brings the total height of the smog tower to 24 feet from the ground level.
It was inaugurated by cricketer turned BJP MP Gautam Gambhir and the smog tower will start functioning from January 3, 2019.
What are Smog Towers?
A smog tower is nothing but a large-scale air purifier that is fitted with multiple air filters in order to clean the air in and around the area where it is installed.
China is also one of the most polluted countries in the world and they have installed two smog towers to tackle the rising levels of air pollution, one in Beijing (capital) and another one in Xi’an city.
The height of their smog tower is around 328 feet.
Air Quality in Delhi
Air quality index (AQI) is showing alarming toxicity in the air every winter for the past few years.
According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences’s SAFAR report, the AQI of Delhi was at 419, which is categorized as severe.
According to the air quality index, the Lajpat Nagar market area is visited by around 15000 people every day.
So, the officials have decided to test this area to see if they can reduce the air pollution down and create a clean air zone around it, by up to 80% reduction in the particulate matters (PM 2.5 and PM10 pollutants).
Design and Cost of Smog Tower in Delhi
The smog tower is a cylindrical structure with 1 large inlet for intake of polluted air and 4 outlet units to distribute the purified air to each corner of the region.
It is painted in four colors – Oragne (top), White (middle), Blue (bottom) and Green (just above the bottm).
According to the reports, the estimated cost of each air purifying smog tower is around Rs.7 lakhs.
Whereas the running cost of the smog tower will be around Rs.30,000.
The smog tower runs on electricity and is expected to treat 250,000 to 600,00 cubic metres of air each day.
Can a Smog Tower Clean the Polluted Air Properly?
Long ago in February 2018, the Delhi Government had installed an anti-pollution tower at ITO and unfortunately it failed to give positive results.
However, they have upped the technology and are confident that this smog tower can counter the increasing levels of air pollution in Delhi.
Let us hope their trial yields good results, this time at least.
Nice initiative. Hope it repeats in all the main cities across India. I am from Bangalore btw.
Wonder why they are not launching these air purifier towers across all the major cities? It would be very beneficial to the people. Hope our PM is listening!
I wish our Telanga CM also launches the similar air purifying tower in the capital (Hyderabad). The city pollution is getting worse day after day.