Civic body ‘experiments’ with air purifier

To ensure cleaner air in Connaught Place, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has tied up with an Italian company, Systemlife, to install air purifiers in the area.

The first unit was placed at Palika Bazaar on Saturday "on an experimental basis", NDMC spokesperson Anand Tiwari said. According to an official from Systemlife, if after four weeks air around the purifying unit is found to be cleaner, the project will be replicated in other parts of Lutyens' Delhi.

"A report will also be sent to the Central Pollution Control Board," he added. The filter station, that resembles a small hut and takes up little space, is said to clean 10,000 cubic metre of air per hour.

According to the Systemlife website, "one hour working of this station eliminates the particulate matter produced by 300 cars of Euro-4 type, running at 10 km/hr near the filtering system and stopping for about 1 minute". It removes particulate matter, microbe charges and reduces the content of pollutants from the air. Sources said the machine is used across Europe, but this is the first time it is being used in India.

According to the Systemlife official, if the filter station is placed in an enclosed area, it can clean air from up to 60 km. However, since CP is open with non-stop vehicular traffic, three such stations would be required for optimum cleaning.

"The quantity of dust in the air also keeps changing. During the day, air remains suspended at a greater height and descends during the night," the official said.

The filtering system has shafts at its base and top — the polluted air is sucked in through the base and the cleansed air is released from the top. The system also includes a small control room from where the filtration process can be monitored.

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