Fact-check: Delhi gets a smog tower, but Kejriwal's 'India's first' claim is wrong
Aam Aadmi Party's claims about its path-breaking smog tower project in Delhi seems to be losing wind even before the turbines swallowed pollutants in Delhi's air.
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FollowAam Aadmi Party's claims about its path-breaking smog tower project in Delhi seems to be losing wind even before the turbines swallowed pollutants in Delhi's air.
On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal unveiled what he called was the country's first smog tower at Connaught Place. The 24 meter-high tower has a capacity of releasing 1000 cubic meters/sec of clean air and will provide clean air up to a kilometre.
Kejriwal said, "To fight pollution, Delhi now has the country's first smog tower. This is the first-of-its-kind technology that has been deployed. Such a tower has not been installed ever in the country; such an effort to clean the air have never been undertaken."
Turns out, Kejriwal was not entirely correct.
Back in January 2020, the traders association had installed a smog tower in Lajpat Nagar central market with the help of east Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir.
The smog tower in Lajpat Nagar daily treats around 600,000 cubic meters of air. It reportedly collects 75 per cent of two pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 and PM 10.
Many social media users were quick to latch on to this anomaly in claims.
The Delhi government has approved a budget of Rs 20 crore for the project. However, experts are divided over the viability and usefulness of erecting such towers considering the scale of pollution in Delhi.
Year after year, dense smog envelops the national capital, especially due to crop burning in the adjoining states and vehicular pollution.
The smog has been blamed for hundreds of premature deaths and thousands of people suffering from breathing ailments.
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