How Delhi’s rich are escaping air pollution

Until two years ago, Parth Phiroze Mehrotra used between 10 and 12 air purifiers in his apartment in South Delhi to ensure that he could breathe clean air at home.

The devices needed considerable maintenance. Mehrotra had to change their filters two or three times a year. Because he kept the doors of his rooms closed, he also had to install dehumidifiers in his home to ensure that moisture did not build up and lead to the formation of mould.

Then, Mehrotra came across another solution – a ventilation and air purification system that would create a “clean air bubble” inside his home. To install it, the company that he bought the system from, YOGa Air, cut a cavity in a wall of his home – the system brought in air through this cavity and passed it through a filtration mechanism. A pressure regulation mechanism ensured that fresh air stayed indoors and stale air was pushed out.

“Compared to all these things that were needed to make sure the air purifiers worked efficiently, YOGa Air is much cheaper,” said Mehrotra, who is the editor-in-chief at Juggernaut Books.

A YOGa Air representative told Scroll that a 1,500-square-foot home would need a single unit, which costs around Rs 1.5 lakh. The...

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