Noida’s first anti-smog tower likely to be operational on Tuesday

The city’s first anti-smog tower near the Film City along the DND Flyway will be operational on Tuesday to mitigate air pollution in the area, said officials of the Noida authority on Sunday

The first anti-smog tower in the city, along the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) road near the Film City in Noida, may be operational on Tuesday to mitigate air pollution in the area, said officials of the Noida authority on Sunday.

The 20-metre-tall anti-smog tower will cover a space of 400 square metres. (Sunil Ghosh/HT)

The 20-metre-tall anti-smog tower will cover a space of 400 square metres, and mitigate air pollution during the winter season.

“We have completed installation of the anti-smog tower and aim to make it operational on Tuesday, if everything goes well. We have completed all the installation work properly, and the operations will commence to keep the air clean,” said SC Mishra, senior project engineer of the Noida authority.

During the trial, if the authority finds out that the tower is capable of reducing the pollution levels, then, it will install multiple anti-smog towers at different locations.

“In a trial for at least 15 days, we will plan installation of anti-smog towers at other locations too,” Mishra added.

According to the authority officials, it has built the tower under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds which were arranged from the central government’s public sector undertakings (PSUs). A budget of ₹2.5 crore was allocated for the project. The work on the ground started on September 25 this year after the approval in its board meeting on September 24.

The tower will clean the air with polluting particles around it and release purified air, said the officials. Equipped with intake and exhaust fans, the tower will initially run with the help of electricity. The authority, however, plans to run the tower with the help of solar energy later.

“We will require ₹3 lakh per month to run this tower properly. As of now, we will use electricity to run it, and will install solar panels later,” said an official of the Noida authority, requesting anonymity.

He also said that the maintenance cost of the tower, excluding electricity charges, includes changing of filters which will clean pollutants in the air. “We will have to change the filters every 15 days.”

Covering an area of 1,000-metre radius around it, the tower will benefit the residents in Noida sectors 15, 15A, 16, 16A (Film City), 17 and 19 among others. Nearly 1 lakh commuters travel along the DND and the Delhi-Noida Expressway link road, and the installation of the tower will be beneficial for them too, said the authority officials.

A machine fixed inside the tower will remove nearly 80% of the particulate matter i.e. PM2.5 and PM10 in the air, and help bring down the pollution levels in the area.

In November 2019, the Supreme Court had asked the central and Delhi governments to come up with a road map for installing smog towers in the national capital region (NCR) to combat air pollution.