Noida asks high-rises to install anti-smog guns to mitigate bad air, citizens oppose

The Noida authority has asked builders and apartments owner associations to install anti-smog guns atop their high-rises with an aim to mitigate air pollution this winter, said officials in the know of the matter on Monday.

The residents, however, have opposed the directive and instead demanded that the Noida authority itself must set up these guns as these are very costly to set up.

On October 9, 2024, the Noida authority’s public health department sent a letter to all housing and other buildings asking them to install anti-smog guns on rooftops as part of Stage 2 of the graded response action plan (Grap), which is currently in force in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR).

The letter further said that road dust, construction dust and vehicular emission hugely impact air quality and therefore, anti-smog guns are key to reduce the pollution and improve the air quality.

“Noida is participating in Swachh Survekshan (cleanliness survey) 2024 and 2025 and taking effective measures to perform better. We have also asked owners or caretakers of high-rises and other buildings to install anti-smog guns because they also have a social obligation to come forward to fight the air pollution. The authority is already working to install at least 30 anti-smog guns in public places. Anti-smog guns in housing towers will benefit residents living in these condos the most,” said SP Singh, general manager (public health department), Noida authority.

The authority officials said one anti smog-gun cost around ₹12 lakh and it needs support from all social groups to improve the air quality.

The Noida authority is spending around ₹3.5 crore for procuring 30 anti-smog guns to be set up at public spots in the city to improve air quality, said officials.

Noida’s air quality index (AQI) on Monday was 248, which lies in the ”poor” category of the AQI scale, and an AQI in this zone is considered harmful for the health of the people, said pollution control board officials. The citizen groups said the Noida authority has an annual budget of about ₹7,000 crore for maintenance and development projects, then hence the authority must allocate money for cleaning the air.

“The Noida authority should bear the cost for this and not residents. We can rent them our terraces and let them take back the anti-smog guns once they are no longer needed. Also, only recycled water should be used in these guns as we cannot waste Ganga water on this. Just because the authority is not able to carry out its job well, it cannot make residents responsible for this,” said Rajiva Singh, president, Noida Federation of Apartment Owners Association (NOFAA), an umbrella body of AOAs.

The residents of sector 74, 75, 76 and 77, among others, have also opposed the authority’s move of concreting and destroying the ‘dust-free’ zones along city roads.

On October 28, 2017, the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) chairman, Bhure Lal, had directed the Noida authority to ensure that roads are made dust-free as they add a lot of particulate matter in the air. Following these instructions from the chairman, the Noida authority had in 2018 decided to plant grass and saplings in dug-up spaces, conduct mechanical sweeping and put tiles as required areas along roads. It had then developed a dust-free zone along a road that connects sector 116/115 to sector 75/76.

“But now the authority has issued a tender to destroy this dust-free zone and replace it with a concrete space. Several National Green Tribunal orders have asked the Noida authority to create and protect open green spaces instead of concreting them as doing so will not let rainwater percolate into soil. Also, dust-free zones along city roads help mitigate air pollution. We have written to the Noida authority and opposed their move of destroying the green dust-free zone,” said Amit Gupta, a social activist and resident of Sector 77.