 "Saurabh Bharadwaj")
While the national capital remains shrouded in a thick blanket of haze, the smog tower located in Connaught Place is locked up.
The smog tower, inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2021, has stopped working after the personnel responsible for its operations 'locked it' due to non-payment of their salary for December 2023 and no written 'job guarantee' from the Delhi government.
It was made operational in November last year after the Supreme Court directed the government to repair it and make it operational.
Speaking on the matter, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the officials are following the orders of ministers because they are aware of inactions against him as "powers have been given to a few officials."
"Today all powers have been given to a few officials and now they are working as per their wish. First, they closed the smog tower but when the court scolded them, the smog tower was made operational. Now, I don't know under what circumstances it has been closed. Officials are not following the orders of ministers because they know that no action will be taken against them," he said, while speaking to ANI.
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The Delhi minister further alleged that the smog towers have been locked 'deliberately' by the central government.
"I think this mismanagement is being deliberately spread by the central government," Bhardwaj added.
Meanwhile, the staff operating the smog tower at Connaught Place shut it down on Sunday over alleged non-payment of their salaries, according to sources.
However, an official of the Delhi government said that the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) in December sanctioned funds to the project management consultant, NBCC (India) Limited, for the payment of salaries to the staff of Tata Projects Limited (TPL), who operate the smog tower.
"The staff of Tata Projects Limited raised concerns about delayed salary payments, and the Delhi government cleared the dues in December. The NBCC, responsible for disbursing funds to Tata Projects Limited, failed to do so due to non-submission of utilisation certificates," the source said.
Sources said the DPCC will hold a meeting with the NBCC and TPL regarding the issue on Wednesday.
In November, the DPCC informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the two experimental smog towers in the city were ineffective in reducing air pollution. The operation of these costly giant air purifiers lacks merit, according to a report submitted to the NGT by the pollution control body.
Nadita Moitra, a senior scientist at the DPCC, said in the report that the Rs 25-crore smog tower at Connaught Place, operational for two years, can only mitigate air pollution by up to 17 per cent within a 100-metre radius.
Considering Delhi's vast area of 1,483 square kilometres, the pollution control body highlighted the need for more than 47,000 such towers, each costing Rs 25 crore for installation and requiring Rs 15 lakh monthly for operation and maintenance.
The DPCC report argued that achieving a mere 17 per cent reduction within a 100-metre radius, with a one-time cost of Rs 25 crore and a recurring cost of Rs 10 to 15 lakh per month is "not at all justified. It is not even a drop in the ocean".
It concluded that both towers were experimental, and their results did not warrant the heavy expenditure.
