Smog gun is a misnomer, can’t bring down pollution: CPCB
The equipment is primarily a water scrubber, suitable to control industrial dust in mining, grinding, coal handling and stone crushing units.
D SAHA, head of the air quality laboratory at Central Pollution Control Board
NEW DELHI : The ‘smog gun’ that was put to trial by the Delhi government on Wednesday at Anand Vihar ISBT failed to satisfy scientists from the Central Pollution Control Board – India’s apex pollution control body.
After seeing the trial run and checking the technical specifications of the so called ‘smog gun’, a two-member team from the CPCB’S air quality monitoring laboratory observed that such devices are not suitable to bring down pollution levels in Delhi.
“The ‘smog gun’ is a misnomer. The equipment is primarily a water scrubber, suitable to control industrial dust in mining, grinding, coal handling and stone crushing units,” said D Saha, head of the air quality laboratory at CPCB, who led the team.
The CPCB report also says even if Delhi were to buy the smog guns, they would not be able to disperse pollution across the city. “The area covered by this type of device is 0.03 sq km. Thus to cover 1,484 sq km (Delhi’s expanse) we need about 50,000 such installations,” the report said.
Hindustan Times had earlier pointed out how the machine failed to bring down pollution levels at Anand Vihar despite using around 10,000 litres of water for nearly eight hours since 10am. Levels of PM10 and PM2.5 continued to spike throughout the day.
Company officials, however, claimed on Friday that the actual trial was conducted between 4pm and 6pm, after which the levels dropped marginally for a brief period. Pollution levels, however, shot up drastically thereafter.
“Such devices work only when the dust particles are coarser and their concentration is extremely high in the ambient air. Such conditions are usually found in mines and crushing units. But as the city’s air comprised ultrafine particles, the water particles failed to bring them down,” said Abhijit Pathak, a scientist with CPCB.
Scientists claimed that the only visible effect was that the sprinkled water made the ground wet which didn’t allow the dust particles that had already settled on the road, to get air borne through resuspension.
Mukesh Khare, a professor of environmental engineer from Delhi IIT, had told HT: “Some gaseous pollutants are water friendly and tend to react chemically when they come in contact with water. The resultant new particle is known as a secondary particle and consists primarily of PM2.5. There is a possibility that these secondary pollutants have formed, which might have added to the concentration of PM2.5.”
The CPCB report also criticised the selection of the site where the trial was conducted. “The site seemed unsuitable to assess the performance as it was very close to the air quality monitoring station. Jet mists were also being thrown directly on station which could have disturbed the station’s instrument,” Saha added. NEWDELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has instituted a ‘distinguished alumni’ award to honour its alumni and recognise their contributions to society, university said on Friday.
“JNU has a number of alumni who are spread across the globe serving in various capacities. A large number of them have been contributing to nation building at home and contributing to the cause of international peace and harmony,” the university said.
The vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar said that the university’s contribution to Indian society is well recognised and it is time for JNU to recognise their distinguished services. “We need to strengthen the bonds between JNU and its alumni,” Kumar said.
Rector I Chintamani Mahapatra said the university’s alumni have held positions as central ministers, top bureaucrats, scientists, as well as academic thinkers and leaders in various institutions of higher learning.