Delhi smog tower: The pilot project has been undertaken by the IIT Bombay in collaboration with IIT Delhi and the University of Minnesota 
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Delhi smog tower: The pilot project has been undertaken by the IIT Bombay in collaboration with IIT Delhi and the University of Minnesota Delhi's first smog tower will start functioning on Friday. The tower will be inaugurated by cricketer turned BJP MP Gautam Gambhir. The tower is fitted at the Central Market in Lajpat Nagar. The giant air purifier has been installed to combat air pollution in the city.
According to media reports, the smog tower has been fitted with exhaust fans that will help in sucking polluted air and remove up to 80 per cent particulate matters (PM 2.5 and PM10 pollutants).
The pilot project has been undertaken by the IIT Bombay in collaboration with IIT Delhi and the University of Minnesota.
The office of East Delhi MP said that that the smog tower was a prototype and more such equipment would be installed, if the initiative achieves success.
The smog tower was procured by Gautam Gambhir Foundation and installed with the help of Lajpat Nagar Traders Association.
The smog tower is expected to treat 250,000 to 600,00 cubic metres of air per day. The air purifier will run on electricity.
Height of smog tower: The smog tower is 20-feet-tall. The giant air purifier has been erected on a 4 feet high platform on a covered drain near Veer Savarkar Marg in Lajpat Nagar. The total height of the tower from ground level is 24-feet. China has world's largest smog tower of over 328 feet height in Shanghai.
Design of smog tower: The smog tower is a cylindrical structure with a big inlet and four outlet units. The tower is painted in four colors--orange on the top, white in the middle, blue at the bottom and green just above the bottom.
Cost of smog tower: The estimated cost of smog tower is Rs 7 lakh. The running cost of the device will be around Rs 30,000.
In February 2018, the Delhi Government had installed an anti-pollution tower at ITO. However, the pilot project failed to yield good results.
Hence, experts have questioned the feasibility of smog towers. According to experts, smog towers were not suitable for Delhi's meteorological condition. There is not enough evidence to prove that the anti-pollutant tower can significantly improve air quality, they claim.
The initiative was taken after Supreme Court, in November 2019, asked the Centre and the Delhi government to come up with a road map on installing smog towers in the national capital region (NCR) to combat air pollution.
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