The smog tower inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday to fight air pollution will be functional after monsoon as the filters for it will be fitted only after the rainy season ends, a government official said.
“The filters will be installed only after monsoon because if we instal the filters now and run it during the monsoon, then there will be fungal growth in the filter due to the moisture,” the official added. He added that the tower will not function round the year.
“The smog tower need not work when the air quality is good. Its function is to reduce pollution when it increases,” the official added.
The air quality is generally better during monsoons.
After inaugurating the smog tower at Connaught Place on Monday, Mr. Kejriwal had said that similar towers would be built in other parts of the national capital, if results of the current pilot project are satisfactory.
The smog tower is a 24 metre-high structure fitted with fans and filters. It will draw in polluted air from the top and release filtered air near the ground through fans fitted on the sides. The tower has 40 big fans and 5,000 filters to clean the air, the government said on Monday, but did not tell that it will not be functional right now.
“Once the monsoon season is over, the tower will function on full capacity and then IIT-Delhi and IIT-Bombay’s experts will start their research on its performance,” Environment Minister Gopal Rai had said on Monday.
