The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has given the nod for the installation of air purifiers that will release fresh air for motorists, in a glimpse of the future that is awaiting the pollution-choked city.
As many as 500 air purifiers will be placed at select traffic intersections, with one device already up and running at Hudson Circle. Estimated to cost about Rs 20 crore, the BBMP Traffic Engineering Cell (TEC) has cleared the file.
The device has a capacity between 3,200 CFM (Cubic Feet per Metre) and 3,500 CFM and can cover an approximate radius of 70-90 feet. According to officials, the device can capture pollutants such as PM 2.5 to PM 10, smog, fine dust particles, heavy metal components, organic carbon, VOC , NO2, SO2, petroleum fumes and odour.
According to the BBMP, these air purifiers are the first such machines in India that will also suck in heavy metal particles in the air such as cadmium, chromium, zinc, copper, iron, manganese, barium, organic carbon and lead that have a direct impact on humans.
Estimated to cost between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh each, the device has the capacity to store about 700 grams of smaller particles of dust in a month. The BBMP will not invest a single penny in the project, officials said.
Speaking to DH, Rajiv Krishna, founder, ATECHTORN, the firm which is taking up the initiative under CSR, said, “We will install about four such devices at Central Silk Board, Whitefield and Central Business District where traffic movement and odour are more. We will start the installation from September first week as the TEC has cleared the file,” he said.
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