Gurugram, Nov 25 (IANS): In view of the rising pollution levels in Haryana's Gurugram district, 71 air purifiers have been installed by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) under Project Air Care, officials said on Thursday.
The air purifiers have been mainly installed in the places where the level of pollution is relatively higher so that "the ill-effects of pollution on the health of the people can be reduced", an official said.
In this project, 42 more air purifiers are being planned to be installed in the district, the official said.
GMDA Additional CEO, Subhash Yadav, said that under this project in the district, a plan to install air purifiers under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CAR) was started in August-2020.
"This project was started by Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar in November 2020. The Indian Pollution Control Association (IPCA) is implementing this project. The work of operation and maintenance is also being done under his supervision," Yadav said.
He said that according to a study, vehicular smoke is responsible for 40 per cent of the increase in pollution in the National Capital Region, and keeping this in mind, the project has been started.
Officials said 15 air purifiers at IFFCO Chowk, 12 near Sikanderpur Metro Station, 6 near Sector 44, near Red Light Area, 8 near Medanta hospital, 8 at Bakhtawar Chowk, 7 near Max Hospital, 7 at AIT Chowk, 8 near Sector-54 metro station and 1 air purifier has been installed at GMDA Sector 44 office.
Radha Goel, Deputy Director, IPCA, said "the increasing level of pollution in the NCR is a matter of concern for all of us".
"The special feature of the air purifiers installed is that it works on the principle of filtration. This air purifier installed at around 5 feet height has an exhaust which absorbs the particulates causing pollution of the environment. The pollution around can be reduced by 40-50 per cent through these air purifiers. Also, the operation and maintenance of these air purifiers will be done by the IPCA for 3 years," she said.