New Delhi, Nov 17 (FN Agency) Even as the Capital struggles to breath amid worsening air pollution and air quality index deteriorating to hazardous levels, Union Minister of Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey on Wednesday inaugurated a state-of-the-art prototype air pollution control tower (APCT) as part of Government efforts to eliminate pollution at the source itself. The low cost APCT designed and developed indigenously by the corporate R&D division of state-run Bharat Heavy Electronics Limited and manufactured at its Haridwar plant, has been set up on the traffic island between the DND Flyway and the slip road to Noida Expressway as pollution is high in this area due to high volume of traffic on the DND and the Noida Expressway.
“Air pollution can be tackled by such active collaboration between industry and administration which is the need of the hour,” the Minister said, calling upon engineers to further improve this product and reduce its cost. The APCT operates by pulling polluted air through its base and capturing the particulate matter in filters installed in the tower. Clean air is then released from the top of the tower. The captured particulate matter gets collected in the hopper at the bottom of the APCT for periodic removal for disposal.
The Pollution Control Research Institute under BHEL will carry out performance study of the APCT for one year While land for the project has been provided by NOIDA Authority which is bearing 50% of the running expenses, all other developmental and capital costs pertaining to design, manufacturing, installation, commissioning etc are being borne by BHEL. The inauguration of the APCT was also attended by Minister of State for Power and Heavy Industries Krishan Pal Gujar, Lok Sabha MP Mahesh Sharma, Secretary of Ministry of Heavy Industries, Arun Goel, Chairman & Managing Director of BHEL, Nalin Shinghal along with senior officers, and officials of BHEL, MHI and Noida Authority.