Helpchat’s new pollution alert feature to track air quality

Helpchat, India’s biggest personal assistant app, has launched a new feature that aims to help Indian citizens avoid pollution related diseases by tracking air quality in their locality. This feature monitors the air in the surrounding environment and delivers a personalised air ­quality update via a mobile app.

The app tells users if the air they are breathing is toxic and suggests various ways to take precautions. The app will show the Air Quality Index (AQI) reading from 0 to 500+ (0 being the cleanest and 500 being the worst air quality) and suggest a precautionary measure depending on the air quality. Should the app sense air quality getting below a certain point, it will send an alert to your smartphone.

In addition to this, it also suggests areas that one should avoid so that users can plan the travel for their families and loved ones accordingly.

The AQI index shown by the app measures a number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide, and even cleaning agents or allergens that might affect the lungs or harm the health in the long term. Since pollution and its impact is directly linked with the weather conditions, Helpchat app also tracks weather conditions and updates the users in real ­time.

“Like a real life personal assistant, Helpchat anticipates and suggests things that makes people’s life easy. At a time when everyone’s major concern is air pollution, we thought of building an intelligent feature that can be of great help to people. Our pollution alerts will inform you about the air you are breathing and also suggest precautions to you. Going forward, we will enable people to buy pollution masks, suggest children­ friendly outdoor zones and even facilitate health checkups.”­ Ankur Singla, Founder and CEO, Helpchat

Over time, exposure to carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds has been linked to an increased risk of respiratory diseases, heart disease, stroke, liver and brain damage and even cancer. Most people don’t find out there are regularly exposed to highly toxic air until it’s too late.

Helpchat’s efforts are especially important for cities like Delhi, where the government is already putting in preventive measures like odd/even rules. “We are launching this feature to support the Delhi government and for people of India, in their effort to control the rising pollution problem”, added Ankur.