In order to combat hazardous smog and air pollution across Punjab, home of more than 100 million people, Punjab government springs into action to use Chinese anti-smog technology by installing smog towers in Lahore and other parts of the province in 2023. Development made headway in the backdrop of successful meeting between Punjab CM Ch Pervaiz Elahi and Chinese Consul General Lahore Zhao Shiren, Gwadar Pro reported it on Monday.

According to the Chinese Consul General Lahore Zhao Shiren, bearing in mind that good air quality is beneficial for people of Lahore, the Chinese Consulate Lahore has provided comprehensive documents regarding smog-eating towers built in China to Chief Minister Office Task Force Smog. “We managed to collect all the required data and information by establishing connection with relevant authorities in China,” the Chinese Consulate Lahore official said.  If the CM office needs further help, we will surely do accordingly,” he added.

CM secretariate official told Gwadar Pro that in the face of unhealthy air quality in Punjab, Chinese smog towers appear to be an antidote of air pollution.   “We noted that smog has become a global problem and the government wants to use Chinese technology to control it in Punjab, especially in Lahore. Chinese technology will be beneficial for installing air purification towers in Lahore and other cities. Air-purifying towers will be installed near border areas and industrial areas,” he added. 

He said that in accordance with the information  he learnt China’s Institute of Earth Environment has constructed the world’s largest air purifier in the northern city of Xi’an. “The smog-sucking tower stands at over 100 metres tall and is designed to improve air quality in the city, where standards regularly fall short of expectations set by the World Health Organization,” he added.  

To monitor the tower’s impact, he said, pollution monitoring stations in the surrounding area discovered that levels of PM2.5 – the fine particles in smog considered most harmful – fell 15% during times of heavy pollution, compared to average. Environmentalist Naseem Shahid said that as the Punjab government has declared an environmental emergency, smog-free towers are direly needed for Punjab.  

“Around the base of the tower is a system of greenhouses that covers an area about half the size of a soccer field. It sucks polluted air in and heats it up with solar energy. The heated air then rises up through the tower and passes through multiple layers of cleaning filters. 

The Xi’an tower has managed to produce more than 10 million cubic metres (353 million cubic feet) of clean air a day since its launch. Furthermore, on severely polluted days the tower was able to reduce smog close to moderate levels,” he added  

He said that purpose of this project is to find an effective and low-cost method to artificially remove pollutants from the atmosphere. China has already housed what was previously thought to be the largest smog tower in China by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde at 798, a creative park in Beijing. That one was only seven meters (23-feet) tall and produced about eight cubic metres (282.5 cubic feet) of clean air per second, he added.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP