New Delhi, September 25: Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday inaugurated WAYU(Wind Augmentation PurifYing Unit), an air pollution control device, in Delhi. The device would be installed at traffic signals at ITO intersection and Mukarba Chowk in Delhi. The device can purify the air in an area of 500-metre square. It has been planned that 54 more WAYU devices will be installed by October 15 in Delhi. Delhi and Mumbai among World’s Most Polluted: How Will Air Pollution Affect Our Mental and Physical Health?

WAYU is developed by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and funded by the Department of Science and Technology. The device works with a maintenance cost of Rs 1500 per month and consumes half a unit of electricity for 10 hours of running.

Speaking about developing a bigger version of WAYU, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “We are in the process of developing a bigger version of WAYU which can purify air in an area of 10,000 meter square and also the designs of future WAYU devices will have even better aesthetics and can be deployed in bus shelters etc.”

The main function of WAYU is mainly Wind generation for dilution of air pollutants and Active Pollutants removal. The device can filter poisonous gases such as VOCs and Carbon Monoxide.

By 15th of October, the Ministry of Earth Science plans to install 54 more WAYU devices at various traffic junctions across Delhi.

The air quality of Delhi is worst than many cities in the world as per a survey of the World Health Organization. The air quality of Delhi is expected to worsen after the phenomenon of stubble burning in the neighbouring states has been started. Hence, steps are being taken to control this pollution in the national capital.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 25, 2018 04:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).