In many Indian cities, clean air has become a matter of endurance.
In Delhi, Gurugram, Lucknow, and Mumbai, people check the Air Quality Index (AQI) before they check the news. On 8 November 2025, Delhi recorded an AQI of 378 — severe.
In early November, residents across Delhi NCR gathered to express frustration over worsening air quality. The protests were less about politics and more about everyday life — parents worried for their children, outdoor workers struggling to breathe, and communities asking for action they could actually see.
Across northern India, the air may appear clear, yet fine dust, emissions, and soot stay close to the ground, affecting everyone from children in schools to workers in markets.
India’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) lists over 130 non-attainment cities, each tasked with reducing PM2.5 and PM10 by up to 30%. The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi NCR restricts traffic, construction, and industry when air quality declines. These interventions are necessary — but they are preventive, not corrective. They slow down future pollution but don’t clean what people are breathing today.
Outdoor air purification bridges that gap.
It focuses on improving air directly in public spaces, school zones, residential areas, markets, and transport corridors — the places where exposure is highest. Cleaner air in these areas has immediate value: fewer hospital visits, consistent school attendance, better outdoor working conditions, and safer public life overall.
A Practical Example: StaticAir’s PAMARES
One example of technology being used for outdoor air cleaning is PAMARES — short for Particulate Matter Reduction System.
It uses an electrostatic process to attract and capture particles from the air, including PM2.5, PM10, and even smaller particles down to PM0.1. Unlike traditional filters or fans, PAMARES has no moving parts and consumes around 18 watts of power — about the same as a small lamp. This allows continuous operation with minimal maintenance and low energy demand.
Each unit can be installed on existing poles or walls and linked to IoT-based monitoring systems for real-time data. Across Europe and Asia, similar installations have shown measurable reductions in particulate matter in their immediate surroundings — particularly in areas with heavy footfall and traffic.
Learning From Urban Reality
India’s pollution problem doesn’t exist only at the policy level. It exists on streets where dust gathers from constant construction, near schools surrounded by traffic, and in markets with little ventilation. This is where technologies like PAMARES are most relevant — not as replacements for emission control, but as local tools that can make measurable improvements right where people live.
Cleaner air in these everyday spaces has visible effects.
Schools no longer face repeated closures due to high AQI days.
Hospitals record fewer acute respiratory cases.
Traffic officers, vendors, and outdoor workers can stay on duty longer without constant irritation and fatigue.
Public spaces — from playgrounds to parks — stay active and usable even in high-pollution months.
These are small but meaningful gains that show how local, consistent interventions can make large-scale policies more tangible.
Complementing India’s Clean Air Framework
Outdoor air purification aligns naturally with India’s larger programs — NCAP, GRAP, and Smart City Mission — all of which emphasize measurable improvement in air quality. For Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and pollution control boards, it provides a way to address air pollution not just through rules and reporting, but through visible, operational changes in the field.
Clean air isn’t achieved only through targets — it’s achieved when the air at a market, a bus stop, or a school feels easier to breathe. That’s where the work truly shows.
Steady, Realistic Progress
India’s air quality problem won’t be solved overnight, but meaningful change begins in small, consistent steps.
Outdoor purification systems like PAMARES make those steps possible by cleaning air in specific, high-exposure zones and integrating with existing monitoring systems. Each installation adds a small layer of improvement — and together, they form a practical path toward cleaner city air.
StaticAir continues to work with municipalities, planners, and institutions that are exploring ways to improve outdoor air quality within their regions.
If your city administration, urban body, or organization is planning initiatives under NCAP, GRAP, or the Smart City Mission, we can share data, insights, and deployment strategies from real-world projects where outdoor purification has delivered measurable impact.
To start a discussion or explore site-specific applications of PAMARES in your region, you can reach out to the StaticAir team through our contact page.
Cleaner air doesn’t need to wait for the next season — it begins with small, practical steps taken today.