Keypoints:
- To ‘reduce pollutants at specific spots and help improve air quality,’ says senior UT official privy to the development.
- 10-foot outdoor air purifier towers will be set up at key points in the city to enable people to breathe freely again.
- Pathogens, viruses will also be filtered.
Air quality has worsened in Chandigarh due to traffic jams and wintry conditions.Finally, a man-made remedy is being tested to check the city’s worsening air quality due to increasing traffic and cooler temperatures. Yes, 10-foot outdoor air purifier towers will be set up at key points in the city to enable people to breathe freely again.
The UT administration will be setting up around 10 towers in different locations with very poor air quality. These will “reduce pollutants at specific spots and help improve air quality,” said a senior UT official privy to the development.
The UT submitted that the ambient air quality of the city was mainly affected by the construction and demolition waste and increase in the number of vehicles.
Chandigarh is one of the non-attainment cities in the country according to National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) norms, which means it has over a five-year period not consistently met the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for harmful PM 10 (particulate matter that is 10 microns or less in diameter), PM 2.5 or NO2 (nitrogen dioxide).
CPCC has floated tenders inviting firms to install the purifiers. “It is being done on a pilot basis. After examining its effectiveness we will be deciding on expanding the projectto other parts of the city,” the official said.
The company that is selected will install, operate and maintain the purifiers.This is part of a solution UT adviser Manoj Parida sought from the Central Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) sometime back.
“The effectiveness of the Delhi experience with the outdoor purifiers hasn’t been very positive. So, we have decided to avail better and latest technology for the purifiers to be installed in the city,” the official said.
The purifiers will have gas neutralisation systems and filters for different categories of pollutants such as PM 10 and PM2.5. A UVC system will nullify the micro-organisms, pathogens and viruses present in the air.
Any places with traffic congestion such as schools with cars and buses picking up and dropping children through the day can also be selected, he added.
