You are what you breathe, says Delhi-based environmentalist Jai Dhar Gupta

When sedentary, a person intakes 7-10 litres air per minute, but while running, the intake increases to 150-litre a minute.

A human body needs air, water and food to sustain, with air being the largest raw material we intake at 12,000 litre per day. And ignorantly, we are inhaling poisonous air in Delhi every second,” says environmentalist Jai Dhar Gupta.  

To educate people about the looming air pollution problem the city is facing, Nirvana Being, founded by Gupta has launched Dare to Run.

This initiative will organise ‘masked’ runs every fortnight till March 2020. The aim is to create awareness on the benefits of wearing a mask and how one can breathe clean while engaging in outdoor activities.

Second, in the series, the 40-minute run was flagged off from the India Gate Memorial at 7:00 am and concluded at Janpath, on Sunday, September 29, with 40 candidates. ASICS running influencer and marathoner Christine Pemberton led the race.

“Whoever joins in the run is given a mask to wear. When we run together with masks, passersby give us thumbs up because they understand what we are doing. Our aim is to make these runners agents for change,” adds Gupta. 

Smog is just one week away

Gupta, whose lungs had collapsed while preparing for a marathon in 2014, says the initiative tries to educate people that food and water are just a small part of their daily sustenance model.

“By October 3, monsoons will leave Delhi, and in a week’s time the city will start turning grey and smoggy, and breathing problems will be on the rise,” warns Gupta. 

With high PM 2.5 levels, it will become almost impossible for people to engage in outdoor activities like running, cycling and outdoor sports.

“PM 2.5 is the black soot that accumulates on the fan blades of your ceiling fans or exhaust fans at your home. These black nano-carbon particles are a manmade pollutant and are so tiny that our body can’t filter them. These can only be filtered using air purifiers indoors and masks outdoor. Apart from that, there are air quality apps that give data on ambient air quality. And if the air quality is bad, you should avoid going out and stop kids from going out to play,” he adds. 

In 2015, WHO came out with a survey that Delhi is the city with worst air quality in the world. For five years, Delhi has been among the top five highly polluted cities in the world. 

“The most amenable weather for playing outdoors is from October-March, which is also the worst time for air quality in Delhi. Playing is very important for cognitive development of people, especially children but if they are indulging in these activities without protection, it will affect them.” 
Incentivise good behaviour penalise bad behaviour

Nirvana Being’s new programme My Right to Breathe, with Deputy CM Manish Sisodia puts emergency kits comprising a basic puffer and a nebuliser in schools.

Meanwhile, Gupta says the government should strongly tackle the recurring issues like burning biomass, vehicular pollution, and industrial emissions. “In Singapore, the government has incentivised good behaviour and penalised bad behaviour. We need such measures.”