Ambient air cleaning project to be tested in Pandesara GIDC

Surat: The Clean Environment Research Centre (CERC) of Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT) will oversee a pilot project to clean ambient air in Pandesara GIDC.
The project to clean the air in open areas will be executed by a technology developer. Based on the results, the future action plan will be chalked out.
The project involves installation of an air purification plant of 16 sq foot at a location in Pandesara GIDC and the air quality will be tested at regular intervals. The plant works on the concept of a 900 sq m virtual boundary.
“Since it is ambient air purification, only one plant is not sufficient to clean the air of an entire industrial area. Hence, a boundary will be identified based on the wind direction and local conditions. The air within that boundary will be tested to measure the efficacy of the purification system,” said Robin Christian, professor, SVNIT.
“The location has not been finalized yet but one near a school in Pandesara has been proposed for the trials. There will be air filters inside the plant that purifies the air,” said Christian.
The project is being undertaken with support from Pandesara Infrastructure Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) run by the local industries that operates the water treatment plant and deals with pollution-related issues.
“Various technologies to clean ambient air are being tested and tried. We have also agreed to fund the project if the technology works,” said Jitendra Vakharia, president, PIL.
SVNIT researchers will not only monitor the air pollution through automatic devices but also carry out manual testing at regular intervals. “There will be sensors installed but our study will not be based on this data alone. We will do testing manually as well,” added Christian.
The study to span six weeks includes installation and removal of plant.
“A similar small plant has been installed in Mumbai and a study on a larger scale is being developed in New Delhi,” he added.