Clearing The Air

Bengaluru-based B2B start-up Clairco provides clean air through AC as a service.

- Sonal Khetarpal

AIR POLLUTION claims over 12 lakh lives in India in a year. But the entire discussion on the topic is focussed on outdoor air pollution. Indoor air quality doesn’t get the attention it deserves, in spite of the fact that we spend most of our time indoors.

Aayush Jha, a lawyer by profession, who lived in Bhilai in Chhattisgarh till 2016, was oblivious of the health problems that indoor air pollution can cause. Until he moved to Delhi. It was when his father suffered chest pain due to the dreaded Diwali air pollution that the problem struck home. One solution was to buy an air purifier. But Jha realised that a purifier works in only one room and costs 8,000-10,000. Not a convenient, practical solution for a middle-class family.

He started looking for alternatives that were cost-effective. Creating new hardware wouldn’t have worked as the aim was to keep prices low. So, he took the existing infrastructure – the air-conditioner – and converted it into an air purifier.