AAP, officials tussle over smog tower ops in Connaught Place in Delhi

Minister Gopal Rai directed DPCC to release pending payments to restart the smog tower, which was reportedly shut due to pending payments

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on Monday said that a smog tower near Connaught Place was working, even as the environment minister pulled up the agency over reports that the air purification system was switched off due to pending payments.

DPCC said the smog tower was shut for a brief period on Sunday and is fully operational on Monday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The statement by a DPCC official and minister Gopal Rai’s letter to the agency, are the latest episode of feud between the government and officials since the elected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) administration lost effective control of the bureaucracy, which now rests with the lieutenant governor (LG) and the Union government he reports to.

The controversy flared up when Rai on Monday directed DPCC chairman Kumar to release pending payments to restart the smog tower at Connaught Place, which, reports said, was shut due to pending payments.

In a statement, DPCC said the smog tower was shut for a brief period on Sunday and is fully operational on Monday, and that required funds were disbursed on December 23 last year.

A DPCC official said: “Information that the smog tower is lying shut is incorrect. It is being operated regularly with effect from November 7 last year, after the Supreme Court directed the Delhi government to operate the smog tower. DPCC has already made a payment of ₹1.29 crore to NBCC (National Building Construction Corporation) on December 23 last year, after receiving certified bills for the number of days it was operated by TATA Projects Ltd (TPL). NBCC has been hired by DPCC as a project management consultant. Due to non-submission of adequate utilisation certificates by TPL to NBCC, the payment was stuck at NBCC level. The tower was shut for a brief period of time on Sunday and is fully operational on Monday.”

The DPCC chairman said he had not received any letter from Rai but added that he will submit a reply when it arrives.

The minister, who signed the letter, called the purported switching off of the smog tower “a very serious matter and immediate steps be taken to release the pending payment and other related issues, if any” before describing the problem as a “shocking dereliction of duties by DPCC”.

The incident also became a political controversy with leader of opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri saying that the smog tower had stopped working for a second time.

“Even after spending such a huge amount, the result is zero. Reports have said that the tower is effective only in a 20-metre radius. It should be investigated that the company that was given the contract to run the smog tower is associated with which Aam Aadmi Party leader,” Bidhuri said.

The smog tower was made operational as a possible solution to Delhi’s pollution crisis, but analyses since it began working in 2021 has shown it has limited effect, and that the Capital would need tens of thousands of such giant air purifiers if they were to be explored as a solution to the city’s bad air problem. Several experts have, over the years, pointed out that such towers have limited impact.