Demand for air purifiers, masks surges in Delhi-NCR amid pollution

The demand for air purifiers and masks has shot up in Delhi-NCR amid increasing levels of pollution in the region, merchants and pharmacists said.

The air quality index in the national capital on Friday breached the 450 mark, raising an alarm for emergency measures to be enforced under the Centre’s third stage of the Graded Response Action Plan, GRAP-III.

“We have seen a 20–25 per cent increase in the demand for air purifiers in the last couple days. Due to the deteriorating condition of air quality in the city, more and more people are now looking to purchase air purifiers,” a shopkeeper based in Delhi’s Rajouri Garden said.

When compared to last year, the surge in demand for air purifiers this year has just started to grow up, another shopkeeper in Ghaziabad said, while adding that the sale of air purifiers is expected to further swell up in the coming days.

“This is just the beginning of the surge. If the air quality continues to get worse, the demand for air purifiers is expected to grow more,” a Dwarka-based shopkeeper said. Amid the shooting air pollution in Delhi, primarily caused by the farm fires in the northern part of Haryana and Punjab ahead of Diwali, demand for masks has also increased, pharmacists in Delhi said.

Customers are mostly looking to buy N95 masks to get extra protection from the harmful particles in the air, they added. The air quality condition in Delhi turned worrisome as a dense and pungent haze engulfed the city and its surrounding areas for the fourth consecutive day on Friday.