NEW DELHI: As the Delhi government battles it out with environment agencies to tackle pollution in the National Capital Region, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and a start-up venture Nurturing Green have decided to start operations of six ‘oxygen chambers’ at various Metro stations in the city.
The first ‘oxygen chamber’ started operations on September 29 at the HUDA City Centre Metro station. “We are going to set up six more of these structures over the next six months. The next one with come up at Chhattarpur, followed by Race Course Road and Hauz Khas. We are also in talks with other governments. We hope to set up the ‘oxygen chambers’ in Noida and Bengaluru as well,” Annu Grover, Managing Director of Nurturing Green said.
The ‘oxygen chamber’ is a glass structure, spread in a 250 square feet area, which cleanses the air with the help of purifiers and plants. “The plants help to absorb toxic gases like xylene, formaldehyde, etc while the purifiers bring the levels of particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10) down,” Grover said from the chamber adding that the air inside was as pure as in the Himalayas. “Just 20 metres from here, the Air Quality Index (AQI) is around 650 but inside, it is in between 30-40,” the entrepreneur added. The plants used inside the chamber are of 14 varieties and are approved by NASA. They have been certified as air purifiers. Some of the plants used are spider plant, snake plant, Boston Fern, etc. Each plant can be bought for Rs 150.
In more good news for residents of NCR, Grover said his firm also helps to set up these chambers in people’s houses. “If people feel tired to commute here, they can give us requirements and we can set up this structure in their homes. It would cost around Rs 20,000 for a 200 square feet chamber,” he said.
The garden site at the Metro station is spread across 13,000 square feet and comprises three sections. One section houses the live demo, where customers can see demonstrations of balcony gardens. The dome is the area where décor items and gifts are showcased. The third section, just adjacent to the ‘oxygen chamber’, is the nursery where the purifying plants are cultivated.
Grover was also all praise for the DMRC for supporting their idea and said talks for setting up the garden centre went on very smoothly.