PUNE: The next time you stand outside the airport, don't fret about toxic fumes of vehicles passing by. Four outdoor air pollution controllers have been installed outside the terminal area to tackle air pollution.
The funnel-shaped machines with a height of 4.5 feet suck in polluted air, filter it and then release fresh air, said Amol Chaphekar, the managing director of Pune's StrataEnviro Private Limited, the company which installed them. Chaphekar told TOI that the airport authorities provided them with the electrical connection and the machines were installed as a pilot project.
"The manufacturing cost of these machines is around Rs80,000. But we have installed them for free in the airport area as a pilot project. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials helped us in this and in the near future we plan to install more such machines in and around the airport. We have worked in the city earlier and have installed these machines in the Pimpri Chinchwad area," he said.
The four air pollution controllers have been installed in front of the terminal building, witnessing heavy vehicular movement during the peak morning and evening hours. An official at the airport, requesting anonymity, said he was impressed by the machines.
"They will be formally inaugurated in a week's time. We felt the need of installing these machines. We hope they will bring down the pollution in the area. Based on the performance, more such machines can be installed in other places around the airport," the official said.
The pollution-level surpasses the permissible limit in the peak hours outside the airport terminal. "The pollution range is between 118-183 micro gram/cubic metre when there is PM2.5/PM10 in the air. We are positive that the machines will reduce the pollution," Chaphekar said.
An airline staffer on duty at a counter outside the terminal building said things were really bad. "There is so much smoke in the peak hours," he said.
