India's first smog tower inaugurated at New Delhi's Connaught Place

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the "country's first smog tower" at Connaught Place in Delhi on Monday and said it will prove to be a milestone and many such structures can be installed in the city if the pilot project yields results.

He also said that the concentration of PM2.5 has reduced from 150 micrograms per cubic metre to 100 µg/m³ and that of PM10 has dipped from 300 µg/m³ to 150 µg/m³ in the national capital since 2014 due to the efforts made in the last few years.

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.

"This is the first such smog tower in the country. It's a new technology. We have imported it from the US. The structure will suck polluted air from above and release clean air from below. It will purify 1,000 cubic metres of air per second," Kejriwal told reporters.

Since it's a new technology, it is being implemented on an experimental basis.

Tata Projects Limited (TPL) built the smog tower with technical support from IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi, which will analyse its data.

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