Nagpur (Maharashtra), May 29 As temperatures soar to 45 degrees Celsius in the Orange City, passengers and tourists at Central Railway's Nagpur station are experiencing some degrees of cool comfort, thanks to a sophisticated mist cooling system, officials said here.
When hundreds of passengers alight at the Nagpur station's three main platforms, they are greeted with a misty spray, making it a "cool welcome" in the blistering summer heat all over, and it is the only station in the country to have this facility.
Encouraged by the public response, the Central Railway (CR) is now planning to install similar cool mist systems at Wardha, Sewagram, Chandrapur, Ballarsha railwa stations by next summer (2025), said Senior Divisional Railway Manager at Nagpur, Aman Mittal.
The mist cooling system reduces the ambient temperatures on the platform by 6-8 degrees Celsius, thanks to evaporating water dispersed through nozzles placed at vantage points on the platforms.
The water is sprayed through a high-pressure pump, micro-filters, and a control system, with a network of pipes and fittings and specialised nozzles that direct the mist jets at the passengers, bringing a smile to their faces.
"The mist system is a practical and eco-friendly cooling solution for the long and wide open-air platforms where installing air-conditioners is not feasible for various reasons," Mittal told IANS.
The micro-filtration is the key to the cooling system's efficiency, preventing nozzle blockages and reducing maintenance needs, while ensuring that it remains effective and reliable throughout the summer months, said the official.
"It is activated only during the summer months, when the trains arrive and there is a crowd of passengers. Nagpur has around 15-16 trains long-distance originating-terminating, plus another 40 through trains, with thousands of people on the platforms," said the official.
The entire system is developed in-house by the CR and costs around Rs 14 lakhs per platform, proving a boon to the travelers sweating it out in roasting heat.
Besides, the misty cooling is designed for easy and affordable upkeep, long-term operations without a major cost burden on the CR as it consumes minimum energy.
In addition to cooling, there are other benefits like improving the air quality on the platforms, reducing dust, smoke and other respirable particles and leading to a healthy environment for the passengers, Mittal added.
It has been installed without using additional space, seamlessly integrated into the existing platform infrastructure and has got good passenger reactions.
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