CM to inaugurate country's first smog tower on Aug 23: Gopal Rai

New Delhi: The Delhi government has stepped up its fight against pollution with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal set to inaugurate the country's first smog tower on August 23.

The CM will inaugurate the smog tower at Baba Kharak Singh Marg in Connaught Place area, the government said in a statement. The AAP-led government has readied its first smog tower at a cost of Rs 20 crore with more to come if the upcoming launch is successful, a senior official from the government told Millennium Post.

The Smog Tower is expected to clean 1,000 cubic metres of air every second which will reduce PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels, the state's Environment Minister Gopal Rai said. The Minister inspected the project site — the Connaught Place Smog Tower on Thursday. The smog tower will work with full force after the monsoon season and experts of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee will assess its performance and present a monthly report.

The senior official added that the government has directed several experts to study the impact of the smog tower right after it is launched and put forward observations and recommendations if changes need to be made to the concerned department.

"We need to see the efficiency of this smog tower before deciding if more are needed. This is just the start if all goes well there will be couple of more of them placed strategically across the city for better impact. It will most likely be spread across different districts for better outcome," the official said.

"Taking into account the current situation, the first smog tower of the country is being established at Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Connaught Place," Rai added.

The efficiency and impact of this smog tower will be very crucial for the Delhi region. The Government in a statement said that it has been

working dedicatedly on reducing pollution in the city with full force, be it dust pollution, vehicular pollution or stubble burning.