Living under a cloud

It's not just Delhi. Air pollution has become a national problem, and people are having to find different ways to live with bad air

- Pooja Singh

Living room, 6. Bedroom, 6. Children's bathroom, 5. Kitchen, 28. These numbers reflect the air quality levels in different corners of Parth Phiroze Mehrotra's house in a posh south Delhi neighbourhood. They are displayed on a small hand-sized monitor he's carrying around to show me how clean the air inside is. "Below 50 is good, below 10 is fantastic," he says of the monitor that measures the air quality index (AQI), gauging the density of pollutants in a particular place. Readings of 100 or higher are bad news for health; the higher the number, the worse the air. It is a bright November morning, and outside, in Phiroze Mehrotra's veranda overlooking a lush park and a blue-grey sky, the AQI is 390.

Over the past 11 months, while Delhi's AQI has oscillated between an unhealthy 106 and hazardous 1,100, the air inside Mehrotra's 3,000 sq. ft house has remained mostly under 50. He credits two "clean air bubbles"-created and installed by Gurugram-headquartered company YOGA-for keeping the indoor air in check. The installation, essentially an exhaust fan attached to a box (shaped like a bulky old air-conditioner), filters out pollutants and ensures good circulation. "Before this, I had 10 air purifiers in the house for over three years," says Phiroze Mehrotra, 38, editor-in-chief of publishing house Juggernaut Books. "Every morning, I would wake up with a slight headache and check the air (quality) levels. Eventually, I realised the headaches were because of the purifiers (lack of ventilation)."

He has air purifiers in his cars as well. The vehicle in which his children travel has one meant for homes, placed in the back seat. It can bring down the AQI to 10 from 320 within 2 minutes, going by the reading on the monitor Phiroze Mehrotra is carrying. He is now considering buying a similar air purifier for his car to replace the current smaller one attached to a headrest.