Kejriwal inaugurates country’s first smog tower to cut pollution in Delhi

“This is the first such smog tower in the country. It’s a new technology. We have imported it from the US. The structure will suck polluted air from above and release clean air from below. It will purify 1,000 cubic metres of air per second,” Kejriwal told reporters. The smog tower has 40 fans and 5,000 filters developed by experts at the University of Minnesota which also helped design a 100-metre-high smog tower in Xian, China. 

According to reports, the experimental tower in northern China has brought a noticeable improvement in air quality. A Delhi government statement said the 24-metre-high smog tower, one of biggest commercial centres in the capital, is based on a downdraft air-flow model. 

Since it’s a new technology, it is being implemented on an experimental basis. Tata Projects Limited (TPL) built the smog tower with technical support from IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi, which will analyse its data. “The experts will analyse functioning of smog tower and tell us if it is effective. If it is successful, many such smog towers can be installed across Delhi. If not, we will work on some other technology... I think it will prove to be a path-breaking milestone,” Kejriwal added.