Context
In a positive development, the Delhi Government inaugurated the "country's first smog tower" at Connaught Place in Delhi, aimed at reducing the air pollution blamed for thousands of premature deaths every year. A similar tower is being readied at Anand Vihar.
About the Project
- Cost: The total project cost, including two years of operational cost, is around Rs 20 crore.
- Area coverage: It is expected to have an impact on a 1 km radius from the centre of the tower.
- Technology imported from: US (University of Minnesota)
- Nodal Agency: The Delhi Pollution Control Committee is the nodal agency for the smog tower at Connaught Place, while the Central Pollution Control Board is the nodal agency for the one at Anand Vihar.
- Built by: Tata Projects Limited (TPL) built the smog tower with technical support from IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi, which will analyse its data.
- Project consultant: NBCC India Ltd. is the project management consultant.
The technology
- A total of 40 fans have been installed at the bottom of the tower — air will be sucked in from the top, filtered and released through the fans at the bottom.
- The tower comprises 5,000 filters. These are electrostatic air filters that can filter out microparticles, including those that constitute smoke, household dust and pollen.
- The tower can filter around 1,000 cubic metres of air per second.
- A Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system has been installed in the tower to collect data and monitor its functioning.
What is a smog tower?
- A smog tower is a structure designed to work as a large-scale air purifier.
- They are usually fitted with multiple layers of air filters, which clean the air of pollutants as it passes through them.
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Why does Delhi need such towers?
- Delhi and its suburbs have ranked among the most polluted cities in the world frequently since 2014, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Delhi the most polluted city in the world.
- Concentrations of tiny deadly particles in Delhi's air regularly exceed safe limits by up to 20 times, particularly in winter when its 20 million people are enveloped in a noxious grey blanket of smog.
- India has 14 of the world's 15 most polluted cities, according to the WHO.
- A 2020 study in the Lancet found there were 1.67 million deaths in the country attributable to air pollution in 2019 including almost 17,500 in Delhi.
- PM 2.5 refers to fine particles which penetrate deep into the body and fuel inflammation in the lungs and respiratory tract, leading to the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory problems, including a weak immune system.
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Smog tower in other countries
- In 2018 China built a much larger 60-metre smog tower in the polluted city of Xian.
