Delhi will be hiring 200 anti-smog guns to make its air cleaner this winter. Photo: Vikas Choudhary/CSE
Air

Delhi’s anti-smog gun squadron

An anti-smog gun works by spewing fine nebulised water droplets into the atmosphere

Vikas Choudhary

Delhi’s air is thickening with pollutants with each passing day as the city advances deeper into its winter season. But help, it seems, is on the way.

The Public Works Department (PWD) of the city plans to hire 200 anti-smog guns at a cost of Rs 5.88 crore to make its air cleaner.

Dust is a major constituent of the polluted air that hangs over the national capital every winter.

The guns, fitted onto the backs of trucks, will operate in 8-hour daily shifts across all the 11 zones of the PWD. An anti-smog gun, also known as a spray gun, mist gun or water cannon, spews fine nebulised water droplets into the atmosphere so that the smallest dust and polluted particles are absorbed, according to India Today.

The anti-smog gun reduces air pollution by spewing fine nebulised water droplets into the atmosphere.

This action reduces air pollution as dust and other particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) are bound and carried down to the ground level along with water. Delhi’s first anti-smog gun was tested back in 2017.