Pollution mask demand and sales up in Patna

PATNA: The pollution mask business in the state capital has registered substantial increase in the last few days as air quality of Patna deteriorated after Diwali. Residents were seen buying certified pollution masks from shops. Medicine shops on Govind Mitra Road claimed increase in demand for pollution masks.
Raj Kumar Soni, who runs a surgical shop, told this newspaper on Monday that the demand for pollution masks has been quite high since last week.“People are also buying Nebulizer machine, which helps in widening the lung pipe that gets constricted due to various respiratory problems,” he said.
The shops having comparatively more varieties of masks had better sales than the ones having limited stock. Another surgical shop owner, Indrajeet Singh, said they have five varieties of pollution masks in the range of Rs40 to Rs200, depending on the quality of filter. “People usually ask for mask with double filters or N95 filters as it protects from PM 2.5 (particulate matters),” he said.
The demand for N95 anti-pollution masks is the maximum. V K Pandey, who has a surgical store in the Ashok Rajpath area, said the city lacks collective responsibility to control pollution.
The AQI level in Patna was in the “very poor” category on Monday and such pollution level causes major respiratory problems on prolonged exposure.
Dr Ashok Shankar Singh, former head of department of tuberculosis department at PMCH said, “Pollution mask has become absolute necessity, especially for people suffering from respiratory problems. Just as water filter is used, air filters would soon be recommended in the city.”
Residents admit that bursting of crackers during Diwali and Chhath was the major reason behind high AQI level in the city. “Air pollution has gone up after the festivals. We can’t even breathe properly on the roads these days. We had encountered continued bursting of crackers till 2-3am on Diwali night in Sultanganj,” said Iqbal Abdullah, a resident of the same area.