The smog tower installed by the Delhi government in Connaught Place has a “noticeable impact” on reducing air pollution within a 300-meter radius, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday.
Mr. Rai said that based on data collected over a year, the smog tower was found to have reduced air pollution within a 50-meter radius by 70-80% and within a 300-meter radius by 15-20%.
“We have observed that smog towers have shown a noticeable impact up to the range of 300 metres. Beyond that, the smog towers are not that impactful for several reasons,” he added.
The 24-meter-high smog tower was inaugurated as a pilot project by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at a cost of ₹20 crore.
Mr. Rai said the report on the functioning of the tower was executed by teams from the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay and Delhi) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee. He added that the teams are continuously monitoring the project.
“We are still in the experiment phase of using this technology. Improvements are being made to overcome the hurdles we are coming across. Since the pilot project was commissioned for two years, the teams will continue studying the impact of the tower on pollution for another year, after which they will submit their final report,” the Minister said.
The government will formulate its future strategy on air pollution on the basis of that report, Mr. Rai added.
