TAASIR :– S M HASSAN –10 NOV
On the eve of Diwali, Delhi got another significant lighted landmark on its skyline, with Lt. Governor, Shri VK Saxena, today inaugurating the illumination of 166 meters Chimney Tower at Rajghat Power Plant, making it the tallest illuminated structure of the National Capital. With the Qutub Minar in South Delhi, Pitampura TV Tower in North/West Delhi, this illuminated column of light will become the outstanding landmark for Central/East Delhi, about 09 months after, Shri Saxena first visited it.
This is in line with Shri Saxena’s commitment to beautify the National Capital by creating permanent assets and will serve as a new landmark of the ITO metropolitan city centre, especially for the lakhs of people entering the central city area on a daily basis to and from across the River Yamuna. It also promises to unfold further surprises that are to be opened up subsequently, through refurbishment and adaptive reuse/repurposing of the Power Plant precinct.
Lying as an unseemly eyesore for the past more than 08 years, this chimney was being planned to be brought down and would have involved a huge cost, apart from causing avoidable dust pollution and adding substantially to the City’s C&D waste dump. The Lt. Governor, Shri VK Saxena, who first visited the Rajghat Power Plant on 19.02.2023, had then asked for the chimney structure to be repurposed, so as to convert it into a permanent asset for the City and its residents.
Various meetings were held under the chairmanship of the Lt. Governor at Raj Niwas wherein it was decided that the repurposing of Rajghat Power House is to be taken up to showcase the power generation mechanism though a 5D experience for the public, making it a place for information and entertainment alike.
Compared to the 72.5m tall Qutub Minar which was recently illuminated and opened to the public, the Rajghat Power plant chimney, which is more than 2.2 times the height of Qutub Minar (with a base of 13m tapering up to 8m), posed technological challenges in lighting it up effectively. The illumination of the chimney tower has marked a significant presence of the capital’s Skyline.
The Rajghat Power Plant, a coal-based plant spread over an area of 28 acres, was commissioned in 1989. However, it was decommissioned in 2015 due to pollution concerns.