E-Paper
5 anti-smog guns to be installed in Ludhiana city
At a time when the rising pollution is taking a toll on the health of the public in the industrial hub of the state, anti-smog guns will be installed in Ludhiana city to bring down the pollution levels.
At a time when the rising pollution is taking a toll on the health of the public in the industrial hub of the state, anti-smog guns will be installed in the city to bring down the pollution levels.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, five anti-smog guns have been purchased by the Municipal Corporation (MC) at a cost of ₹85 lakh under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
Civic body officials claim that the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) is the first to introduce anti-smog guns in the state and the project is expected to bring huge relief to the residents especially when stubble burning is witnessed in the state.
The authorities have received the delivery of five machines which have now been kept at MC’s workshop and trials will be conducted in the next week.
An anti-smog gun is a device to combat air pollution which will spray atomised water to settle the dust and other suspended particles in the atmosphere. The MC officials stated that the guns can spray water up to a height of 100 meters to settle dust particles and PM 2.5.
The officials stated that the guns can be transported to any part of the city using tractors and the machines will be operated with the help of a generator.
One of the senior MC officials stated that the MC had tested the anti-smog guns in February last year, following which a proposal was made to install these in the city. Now five anti-smog guns have been purchased for the city and a trial will be held in the presence of senior officials next week.
Ludhiana is one of the nine non-attainment cities in Punjab according to the NCAP norms, which means it has over a five-year period not consistently met the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for harmful PM 10 (particulate matter that is 10 microns or less in diameter), PM 2.5 or NO2 (nitrogen dioxide).
PM 2.5, a prominent pollutant in the air, is produced by burning, construction works and vehicles. It is small in size due to which it can get directly absorbed into the bloodstream, and can cause asthma, lung cancer and even heart disease.
