In a bid to help Gurugram Police personnel combat air pollution after Diwali, a private company and a hospital on Sunday donated 5,000 masks to the department.

Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar said the N95 masks will be given to field officials, especially those deployed in the traffic department, on PCR vans and volunteers. Khirwar said Gurgaon suffers one of the worst spells of air pollution after Diwali. “These masks will help minimise the impact of alarming pollution levels on police personnel,” he said.The air pollution levels had risen in Gurgaon after Diwali. The PM2.5 level - which refers to particulate matter that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, which is about 3 per cent the diameter of a human hair - had reached up to 300 cubic metres in the Millennium City after Diwali. The volume of pollutants, however, have come down due to strong wind movement after Diwali fireworks had pushed Delhi's air quality into the 'severe' zone for the first time this year.

“Police of NCR is among those highly vulnerable who, in line of their duty, spends hours breathing toxic air,” said Arvind Chabra, head of Blueair India, which donated the masks.

“Pollution levels have spiked inspite of all-round efforts to control it although some progress has been made. At the frontline of this battle are the policemen on the ground who are responsible not only for regulating things like traffic but responsible for enforcing all other regulations,” said Himanshu Garg, head of respiratory and critical care at Artemis Hospitals.