Connaught Place smog tower has noticeable impact on air pollution up to 300 metres: Delhi Minister Gopal Rai

File image of Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai (ANI photo)

The smog tower at Connaught Place here has a noticeable impact on air pollution up to a distance of 300 metres, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Friday.

Within a radius of 50 metres, the giant air purifier is able to cut down air pollution by 70 to 80 per cent. It reduces pollution levels by 15 to 20 per cent beyond 300 metres, he told reporters. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the over 24-metre-high smog tower at Connaught Place on August 23 last year.

The city government had formed a team of experts from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, IIT-Bombay, NBCC and Tata Projects to study its impact over two years.

Officials had earlier said the Rs 20 crore smog tower can purify the air in a one-km radius at a rate of around 1,000 cubic metres per second.

Rai said the construction of more smog towers in the capital would depend on the success of the pilot project.

The smog tower at Baba Kharak Singh Marg has 5,000 coarse filters and 5,000 fine filters developed by experts at the University of Minnesota which also helped design a 100-metre-high smog tower at Xian in China.