Delhi, Aug 23: Delhiites will be able to breathe fresh air as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the national capital's first smog tower today.
The over 20-metre-tall structure, being set up to improve air quality in a radius of around 1 km, will "operate at full capacity" after the monsoon season.
The smog tower will be able to purify 1,000 cubic metres of air per second, according to Rai.
A two-year pilot study will be undertaken to ascertain the effectiveness of the smog tower after it becomes operational, an official said.
A control room has been set up at the site to monitor the operations of the smog tower.
Another 25-metre-tall smog tower, built by the central government at Anand Vihar, is expected to become operational by August 31, officials of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said.
Tata Projects Limited (TPL) is building the two smog towers with technical support from IIT-Bombay, which, in collaboration with IIT-Delhi, will validate their performance.
The NBCC India Ltd. has been appointed as project management consultant.
The CPCB is the nodal agency for the tower at Anand Vihar, while the Delhi Pollution Control Committee is the nodal agency for the one coming up at Cannaught Place.
The two towers will have 1,200 air filters each developed by experts at the University of Minnesota in the United States - which also helped design a 100-metre-high smog tower in Xian, China.
The smog towers, being built at a cost of Rs 22 crore each, are estimated to reduce concentration of PM2.5 up to 70 per cent in a 1-km radius around them.
The Supreme Court had in January last year 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 in three months.
In August, the apex court had reprimanded the Centre and the state government for missing the deadline for completing the construction of two smog towers.
How Smog Towers filter polluted air
Does India need Smog Towers
As cities in India are facing acute air pollution problem for years it is time to take a step ahead and bid for smog towers in each of the polluted cities as it has been proven that smog towers can be our saviour in the time of distress.