Delhi: CP smog tower shut again, this time over non-payment of salaries
New Delhi, Jan 7: The staff operating the smog tower at Connaught Place here 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 2021, two smog towers were installed in Delhi - one at Connaught Place under the DPCC and another at Anand Vihar under the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) - following directives from the Supreme Court.
The smog tower at Connaught Place was temporarily shut down based on unilateral directions from the chairman of the DPCC, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai had claimed earlier. It was restarted in November following orders from the apex court.
According to the CPCB data, during the 2021-22 winter season, the smog tower at Anand Vihar reduced PM2.5 concentration by up to 17 per cent and PM10 levels by up to 27 per cent within a 100-metre radius.
Last year, the Delhi government said that the Connaught Place smog tower could decrease air pollution by 70 to 80 per cent within a 50-metre radius and by 15 to 20 per cent up to 300-metre radius.
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.
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J-K: Six held with drugs, assets worth Rs 73 lakh attached in Udhampur
Jammu (PTI): Six persons were taken into custody during an intensified anti-narcotics crackdown, with police recovering contraband substances and over Rs 23 lakh in Doda and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Monday.
In a parallel action, properties worth over Rs 73 lakh linked to drug peddlers were also attached in Udhampur district under relevant legal provisions, the police said.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Doda, Mohd Aslam said three persons, including a woman, were detained during a raid on a house at Dak Mohalla in the main town following recovery of 85 grams of suspected brown sugar and over Rs 23 lakh on Sunday evening.
He identified the woman as Zareena Begum, stating that she had been under police surveillance following inputs indicating her involvement in drug peddling.
Besides Zareena, officials said her daughter and son-in-law were also picked up by police during the raid.
“We have taken three individuals into custody. Their roles are being examined, and based on that, arrests will be made. We are continuing raids at other suspected locations,” Aslam said.
Three drug peddlers --Pardeep Singh of Hiranagar, Rahees Butt of Billawar and Ali Sen of Amritsar (Punjab) -- were arrested along with heroin at different places in Kathua district, a police spokesman said.
He said while 2.79 gm of heroin was seized from Singh, 2.66 gm were recovered Butt. Similarly, 303 gm of heroin was seized from Sen who was intercepted near Berrian-Pattan village while moving in a private car from Bhagthali to Maggar Khad on the Jammu-Pathankot highway.
All the three were booked under the NDPS Act and further investigations are on, the spokesman said.
In Udhampur, the spokesman said properties worth Rs 73 lakh were attached in two separate cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The attached properties included a newly constructed residential house, a car, a motorcycle and a mobile phone with a total value of Rs 65 Lakh, belonging to accused Saif Ali who was booked under the NDPS case in Majalta area early this year, he said.
In another action, movable property worth Rs 8 lakh comprising a car, belonging to accused Danish Butt of Doda has been attached under Section 68(F) NDPS Act in connection with an FIR registered at Rehambal police station, the spokesman said.
