BENGALURU: In order to curb the ever-increasing pollution in the city, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is planning to install water fountains at traffic intersections. This will not only increase the moisture level but also absorb dust and lead content in the air, thus reducing air pollution.
As per the National Green Tribunal order, the Air Quality Monitoring Committee was constituted in Karnataka in November 2018 to check pollution. Since then, the six member committee, under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary to Ecology and Environment, has met twice. In the recent meeting, the committee has given a list of recommendations to various stakeholders, including BBMP, BDA and Bangalore Traffic Police. The committee has submitted its recommendations to the Central Pollution Control Board.
One of the major recommendations is to install water fountains at busy traffic intersections such as MG Road, Cauvery Bhavan, Vidhana Soudha, KR Circle, Majestic, Upparpet police station, Corporation Circle and railway stations.
According to environmentalist A N Yellappa Reddy, this move will certainly have a positive impact.Explaining how the fountains will work, Reddy said, on any given day, vehicular movement causes dust and air pollution and particulate matters float in the air. Due to the sprinkling mechanism of fountains, water will absorb these particulate matters. The continuous sprinkling of water will also increase the moisture level in the cir, reducing the dryness and making the air more breathable.
Reddy added that the fountains should be tall and wide and the sprinkling water should be as thin as mist. These fountains will cool down the traffic signals, which are usually heat islands.BDA is now on the lookout for private partnership to start this project. “We will seek help from corporates that can sponsor the fountains. We can also put the names on these companies on the fountains,” a BDA official said.