A giant 24-metre-tall air purifier tower will be installed in the Union Territory of Chandigarh to combat air pollution. The country’s tallest air purifier tower is expected to treat air within a circumference area of almost 500 meters.
The Central Pollution Control Board has notified Chandigarh as one of the non-attainment cities, where the air quality is worse than the prescribed standards.
“With an aim to improve air quality in the city, a 24 metres (78 feet) tall air purifier will soon be installed here. The tower is fitted with a system to suck polluted air, pass it through a filter which separates the particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM10) and release the clean air,” said Debendra Dalai, Director, UT Department of Environment, while talking to The Pioneer.
He said, “A company named Pious Air Pvt Ltd has proposed to install the air purifier tower for free of cost on a pilot basis in the city. The total cost of the project i.e. Rs 1.5 crore would be borne by the company and it would be installed in next two months.”
“The company has proposed five locations including two sites in Sector 17, Tribune Chowk, Transport Chowk and Industrial Area for the installation of air purifier tower. One location among them will be finalized soon for the installation,” he added.
Apart from a giant air purifier tower, the UT Administration has planned to install ten small towers at different locations with poor air quality in the union territory.
Giving details, Dalai said, “10 small air purifier towers standing at 2-3 meters will be installed at crowded places or where exposure to vehicular emissions is high in the city.”
This would be done under Central Government’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to tackle the air pollution. The installation of each tower will cost around Rs 2-3 lakh and aims at reducing pollutants at specific spots and help improve air quality, he said.
He added, “Chandigarh has also been selected as one of the cities for the Source Apportionment study, to be conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The study would be conducted for establishing the sources of pollutants in the city.”
The Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) has also planned to launch a mobile based app for the city denizens for redressal of their grievances related to the poor air quality.
In the past few years, Chandigarh has recorded a high concentration of PM 10- (particulate matters with diameter of 10 microns or less) and PM2.5 (particulate matters less than 2.5 microns)-form of air pollution, which is considered most serious.
Notably, the air quality index (AQI) was recorded at its worst ever in November 2019 in Chandigarh. The AQI was recorded between 300 and 400 in the city, according to the CPCC data.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 severe.
As per the general analysis by CPCC, stubble burning, vehicle emissions, industries emissions and construction works are the major factors for air pollution in the city.
