Goverment mulls smog-free towers in capital

After thick smog engulfed the city post Diwali, Delhi minister Kapil Mishra said the government is considering the possibility of installing smog-free towers to clean up city’s air. These seven-metre high towers suck in polluted air like a giant vacuum cleaner and return bubbles of clean air through its vents.

Videos of these smog-free towers have created quite an online rage as netizens are suggesting that the Delhi government should install some of these to tackle the pollution crisis it is facing. Mr Mishra, who along with environment minister Imran Hussain will hold a second round of meeting with the manufactures on Wednesday, said the government may run a pilot project to test these towers. It’s estimated to cost the government Rs 4-5 crore.

The world’s first “Smog-sucking” tower was opened in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The clean air generated by these towers are released into parks and playground. According to studioroosegaarde.net, the smog-free towers will be able to clean 30,000 cubic meters of air in an hour.

The smog-free tower in Beijing opened on September 29 with support of the China’s ministry of environmental protection. But the online rage surrounding these “smog-sucking” technology is around its ability to turn trapped carbon into diamonds. As per a promotional video of the smog-free tower, the carbon it collects is put under pressure for half-an-hour —which turns the carbon into diamond. The jewellery that is then created is used to fund more towers, it says. Mr Mishra, who is part of the three-member ministerial task force on air pollution, said it will take a month’s time to start the pilot project once the deal is done. But he added that such technologies can only “deal with the symptoms and not solve the problem entirely”. The Delhi government is also considering other ideas to tackle the smog.