Anand Vihar smog tower costs over ₹10 lakh a month despite limited impact

RTI reply says construction cost crossed ₹20 crore and evaluations found only up to 20 percent particulate reduction within a few hundred metres.

Despite multiple studies questioning their usefulness, the Anand Vihar anti-smog tower continues to run at a monthly operating cost of nearly ₹11 lakh, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has said in a fresh RTI response.

Civil and structural work alone cost over ₹18 crore and DPCC told NGT that more than 40000 towers would be required for citywide impact. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

The tower, installed by CPCB, is operated by Tata Projects Limited “at a cost of ₹10.27 lakh per month, exclusive of electricity cost, GST, taxes and project management consultant (MC) charges,” the agency told activist Amit Gupta. Construction alone cost around ₹20 crore, including ₹18.52 crore for civil and structural work and NBCC’s project management fee, it said.

CPCB cited performance evaluations by IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi, stating that “observed values indicate up to 20% reduction for PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels for distances between 200 and 400 m.”

Delhi has two smog towers, the second at Baba Khadak Singh Marg in Connaught Place, installed for over ₹22 crore by the Delhi government in August 2021. Both towers were built by Tata Projects Limited, with IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi analysing performance data. The Connaught Place tower is currently non-functional, with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) calling the technology impractical.

In an October 2023 affidavit to the NGT, DPCC said the towers were ineffective, and Delhi would need more than 40,000 to impact citywide air quality, noting their limited 100-200 metre influence.