Delhi Environment Minister seeks suspension of officer who halted smog tower project

Minister Rai seeks suspension of DPCC chair Kumar for halting smog tower ops. He also seeks disciplinary action against project in-charge Ali. Smog tower installed at Connaught Place in 2021, could reduce air pollution by 70-80% within 50m radius.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on November 4, seeking the suspension of Delhi Pollution Control Committee chairman Ashwani Kumar for "arbitrarily halting" the operation of a large smog tower installed at Connaught Place two years ago to mitigate air pollution.

In the letter to Mr. Kejriwal, Mr. Rai also sought disciplinary action against the project in-charge, Anwar Ali, whom the Minister accused of changing his stance on the smog tower's effectiveness under pressure from Mr. Kumar.

Mr. Rai mentioned that two smog towers were installed in Delhi — at Connaught Place under DPCC and at Anand Vihar under the Central Pollution Control Board — following the Supreme Court's directions.

Mr. Kumar, who assumed the role of DPCC chairman in December, stopped the release of funds to IIT-Bombay and other agencies working on the project without informing the government, which Mr. Rai considered a contempt of court.

"I would like to propose the suspension and disciplinary action against Ashwani Kumar, Chairman DPCC, for acting in contempt of the Hon'ble Supreme Court's directions, not implementing the Council of Ministers' decision, arbitrarily halting operations and maintenance payments, failing to make decisions based on the merits of the study and presenting them before the Cabinet, and not reopening the smog tower after the monsoon months, which prevented the formation of clean air zones at a time when pollution levels are expected to rise," Mr. Rai wrote.

Chief Minister Kejriwal had inaugurated the more-than-24-metre-high smog tower at Connaught Place on August 23, 2021. The city government had formed a team of experts from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay to study its impact over two years.

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