Delhi's first smog tower at CP will be ready by Aug 15, says Gopal Rai

New Delhi: Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday said Delhi's first smog tower at Connaught Place will be ready by August 15.

The Delhi Cabinet had approved the project in October last year. The 25-metre-tall structure, being set up to improve air quality in a radius of around 1 km, was supposed to be ready by June 15.

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the construction work of the smog tower, the first-of-its-kind in India, at Baba Kharak Singh Marg. The work is being expedited. The ambitious project will be ready by August 15, Rai told reporters here.

China also has such smog towers, but this one works on different technology. The ones in China suck the polluted air from the bottom and release the clear air from the top, whereas this smog tower works in the opposite direction, he said.

The smog tower at Connaught Place will be able to purify 1,000 cubic metres of air per second, the minister said.

He also said many experts have different views about the efficacy of smog tower.

This is a pilot project. Experts will study its outcomes and thereafter, the government will take a call on building more such structures, he said.

Tata Projects Limited (TPL) is implementing the Rs 20-crore project on the ground with technical support from IIT-Bombay.

The National Building Construction Corporation India Ltd. has been appointed as project management consultant.