(MENAFN- Live Mint)

New Delhi: As Delhi's air-layered by thick smog-burns citizens' eyes and throats, two things are in overdrive: an exodus of employees escaping to the hills, and skyrocketing sales of air purifiers for those sticking to home turf.

Professionals are spending thousands of rupees to set up makeshift workations in places like Himachal Pradesh-where the air quality index (AQI) hovers between 90 and 150-even as employers greenlight these unusual remote arrangements.

Those staying back in the capital are splurging on air purifiers and masks as Delhi's AQI crossed a 'breath-taking' 390-plus on Monday morning. Employers, too, are relaxing return-to-office rules to safeguard health. Even Delhi's government has tweaked office timings for its staff.

The trend took off right after 20 October, when the country celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights-and, inevitably, smoke.

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“Since Diwali, our circuit-coverage packages-especially long-stay workations in the mountains-are up 28% year-on-year," Aviral Gupta, chief executive officer of budget backpacker hostel chain Zostel & Zo World.“Guests now ladder trips across 6–7 weeks, spending 10–12 days in each destination before hopping to the next."

Ladder trips are multi-destination stays where travellers hop from one location to another over an extended trip. Circuit coverage refers to curated long-stay travel packages covering multiple destinations within a specific route or region.

According to Gupta, Zostels have seen high demand in places like Dobhi, Shangarh, Manali, Spiti, Kalpa in Himachal Pradesh, where the AQI hovered between 94 and 155.

For India Inc, employee health is a key metric against which a firm is judged as an employer of choice, and so, employees are allowed to take a call on the most suitable work arrangement during October-December.

“Many organisations reverted to office-only setups, but with the rising AQI, we have guided employees to meet only once or twice a week to sustain momentum," said Swati Jain, founder of Katha Studio, a Delhi-based digital marketing agency with around 20 employees.

Larger firms with thousands of employees were just as swift. Diversified business house RPG Group's employees can avail the work-from-home option during these days.

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“We continue to follow a 50% work-from-home policy under our hybrid working model. This gives our people the flexibility to work from home or any location of their choice, which is coordinated and approved with their respective managers," said RPG's spokesperson.

However, industries like manufacturing are finding it tougher. The senior manager of a Mumbai-based manufacturing firm with offices in the northern belt said while they installed air-purifiers in offices three years ago, asking all to work from home was not an option.

Sales surge

Meanwhile, leading e-commerce players attest to the surge in sales of air purifiers and masks in the Delhi region.

“We've witnessed a strong 5x increase in air purifiers (in other regions) compared to typical days and Delhi-NCR witnessed a sharp 20X surge," said K.N. Srikanth, director for home, kitchen and outdoors at Amazon India.

The company has seen a 150% growth in air purifiers in the premium range (above ₹20,000) when compared on a year-on-year basis, according to Srikanth. Lower-priced categories have seen 70-75% uptick in the same period.

The spokesperson for another e-commerce major, Flipkart, said that on its platform, demand for air purifiers in Delhi-NCR jumped about 8x in the first two days of November compared to the first week of October, while orders via Flipkart Minutes-its quick commerce arm-rose nearly 12x.

Quick-commerce players echo this demand.“In the past couple of weeks, we've seen nearly a 10x increase in demand for air purifiers and N95 masks," a spokesperson for Swiggy's quick commerce arm Instamart said, adding that North India, particularly Delhi, has led the surge, followed by Bengaluru.

Further, there's no problem with supply, according to Nilesh Gupta, managing director of Vijay Sales, an electronics retail chain.

“Right now there isn't a stock-out situation happening as companies are better prepared with inventory, etc.," he said, while pointing out that sales are largely concentrated in the northern part of the country.

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“We see that manufacturers are better prepared as air purifiers have developed into a small category of its own. While it's too early to comment on demand, we will see a sale of 10-15% this year versus the same time last year," Gupta said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi administration is also scrambling to respond. Amid mounting air pollution concerns, the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation have tweaked timings to reduce traffic load and emissions.

The current timings are 9:30 am to 6:00 pm for Delhi government employees, and 9:00 am to 5:30 pm for Delhi Municipal Corporation employees. The new timings proposed for Delhi government offices are from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm, and for Delhi Municipal Corporation offices it will be from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.

Abhishek Law contributed to this story.

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