FRESH AIR FOR SALE

AS AIR POLLUTION WORSENS, A WAVE OF INNOVATIONS EMERGE TO PROMISE CLEANER, HEALTHIER BREATHING SPACES. SOME ARE BACKED BY SCIENCE, OTHERS HAVED FAILED TO CONVINCE DOCTORS

- SONALI ACHARJEE

Sometimes, it’s just the thought that counts. That’s what Mitali Banerjee, a 28-year-old designer from Noida, says when anyone asks her if the oxygen therapy sessions she treats herself to actually benefit her. “The air is so bad all around me. I just want to do something to feel that I am not breathing only toxins,” she tells INDIA TODAY. At Oxypure, Delhi’s largest chain of oxygen bars, Mitali sits back in an oversized lounge chair and treats herself to 15 minutes of near-pure oxygen once every week. “I feel good about it,” she adds.

A 2024 study published in the journal, Lancet Planetary Health, found that long-term exposure to air pollution increased deaths by 1.5 million per year in India between 2009 and 2019, compared to conditions if the country had met the World Health Organization's recommendations for safe exposure. From cardiovascular ailments to chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, asthma and even eye issues—pollution is wreaking havoc on public health. Disheartened and alarmed, Indians are hungry for quick, convenient fixes to the problem.