The Delhi government will on Wednesday test an “anti-smog gun” as a way to tackle poor air quality. The device, which sprays water into the air to help pollutants settle, will be tested in the heavily polluted area of Anand Vihar in East Delhi at 10 am.

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal approved the trial use of the device on Monday in a meeting with Environment Secretary Anil Kumar Singh. Environment Minister Imran Hussain and a team from Delhi Pollution Control Committee will conduct the trial.

The device is connected to a water tank and it can be taken to different parts of the city on a vehicle. It can spray water up to a height of 50 metres, IANS reported, quoting Sushant Saini, an executive of Cloud Tech, which manufactures the machine.

A test was conducted on Monday as well, at the Delhi Secretariat, where Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Hussain were present.

Anand Vihar, the location of a major inter-state bus terminus and the area bordering Uttar Pradesh, had an air quality index of 420 on Wednesday morning. This level is classified as hazardous, but is usual for the area.

The national Capital has suffered from air pollution and consequent smog since late October. Air quality has consistently stayed worse than ‘very poor’ in all parts of the city, only occasionally recovering to ‘poor’. This has sent the Delhi government on a hunt for ways to avoid a similar situation in the rest of the winter or next year.