Restart Delhi smog tower in 24 hours, says Rai

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai ordered that that smog tower at Connaught Place be restarted and demanded a report from DPCC Chairman Ashwani Kumar over its operations being shut down.

Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Monday hit out at the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) after operations of the smog tower at Connaught Place were shut down a day earlier due to unpaid salaries of its workers, calling it a “contempt” of the Supreme Court’s order.

According to an official statement, Mr. Rai directed Principal Secretary (Environment, Forest & Wildlife) A.K. Singh to release the salaries of the workers for December and resume operations of the tower within 24 hours. He also asked DPCC Chairman Ashwani Kumar to submit a detailed report within 48 hours, addressing important aspects related to the committee’s “shocking dereliction of duties”.

The 24-metre-high tower — built on an experimental basis at a cost of ₹20 crore following the apex court’s direction — was inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2021. According to the Delhi government, it can reduce air pollution by up to 80% within a 50-metre radius and up to 20% within a 300-metre radius.

Mr. Rai had slammed the DPCC chief in April last year as well over the tower being shut. It was restarted in November on the orders of the Supreme Court.

In his latest directions to the Principal Secretary, he said, “This is a very serious matter and immediate steps will be taken to release the pending payment and other related issues, within 24 hours so that to make [the] smog tower operational without any further delay... it must also be ensured in future that all payments be made in a timely manner... to keep the smog tower running without any interruption.”

“This is a shocking dereliction of duties by [the] DPCC that was directed by the Supreme Court as recently as November 2023 to ensure the continued operation of the smog tower,” the Minister wrote, adding that the actions of the DPCC were tantamount to a “direct contempt of court”.

Mr. Rai also said it was also very concerning that the shutting down of the smog tower is taking place at a time when the air quality index is still in the ‘very poor’ category in the national capital.