NEW DELHI: East Delhi will get a first-of-its-kind giant air purifier, which will be installed in Gandhi Nagar market, which is touted as Asia’s largest readymade garment and textile hub. The 12-feet-tall device can cover an area of 1,000 square metres (sqm) and is fully automatic.
East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir will inaugurate the machine on Thursday. This will be the second giant machine to be used to clean the air in the national capital.
The Gautam Gambhir Foundation (GGF) has funded the purifier. The first smog tower was installed in Lajpat Nagar in January for which the assistance was also provided by Gambhir.
Gandhi Nagar is one of the busiest wholesale markets in Delhi, which is believed to receive more than 20,000 footfall every day. The 20-feet-tall tower in Lajpat Nagar is fitted with exhaust fans to suck in polluted air and can remove up to 80 per cent of the particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM10) -- the primary pollutant in Delhi’s air.
The Delhi government has also proposed to install another smog tower in Connaught Place.
In October, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that the cabinet had approved for installation of a smog tower in Connaught Place for which 20 crore has also been sanctioned. The project will be complete in 10 months.
The Central government is already working on a smog tower in Anand Vihar.
Following the positive response from the people of the market and also the persistent demand from the residents of the neighbourhood, Gambhir is planning to install similar air purifiers in markets across East Delhi, said his office.
The purifier at Gandhi Nagar is more advanced in terms of technology; it has a few additional features like high mast lights.