A team of Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) officials on Wednesday restarted the non-functional anti-smog tower in Connaught Place on Wednesday morning, a day after the Supreme Court ordered the administration to immediately operationalise the tower.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the Delhi Government has issued directives to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to restart the Connaught Place smog tower at full capacity and release the remaining funds to IIT Kanpur to resume a study to identify different sources of pollution in the capital.
A member of the team said that the plant has been re-operationalized as per the direction of the Supreme Court and the clean-up work of equipment and rooms was being carried out. “The facility was shut down in April. All the fans are now functional and trials are being carried out. We will gradually increase the speed of fans,” the official said. Delhi’s air quality index was in severe category on Wednesday with an air quality index of 425 being recorded at 1 pm by the Central Pollution Control Board.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday recommended to Lieutenant Governor the immediate suspension of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee chairman Ashwani Kumar for “arbitrarily halting” the operation of a large smog tower installed at Connaught Place two years ago to mitigate air pollution.
The Rs 23 crore-smog tower in Delhi’s Connaught Place was inaugurated by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in August 2021 amid much fanfare.