Pollution leading to brain drain from Gurugram’

GURUGRAM: Consistently poor air quality, and now the tag of the world’s most polluted city, have left the corporate sector grappling with a talent retention problem as fears that professionals working in Gurugram could relocate to places with cleaner air become bigger with each day. A few startups already have.

According to a study, which was conducted by IQAir AirVisual and Greenpeace and released in Jakarta on Tuesday, Gurgaon’s average annual PM2.5 levels were at an alarming 135.8 micrograms per cubic metre.

Deep Kalra, founder and CEO of online travel company Makemytrip.com, said that the city’s worsening air quality has left several of his employees worried about their health.

“My CMO (chief marketing officer) recently had a child who has to be restricted indoors all the time to avoid the pollution, else the kid develops health problems,” he said.

Kalra, who was speaking at the launch of the ‘Green Gurugram’ initiative of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) on Tuesday, added that several employees, especially at the middle level, are looking to relocate to other cities for better quality of life.

Vinod Sood, the managing director at Hughes Systique, a provider of software R&D services, aired similar concerns. He said that professionals who are looking to start a family want to avoid any damage that their children might suffer in their initial years due to pollution, and would rather move to cities such as Pune and Hyderabad. “Over the last couple of years, the concern regarding the high pollution levels has grown manifold. Earlier, people were worried but now they want to do something about it, and relocating is one option,” said Sood.

He added that with increasing awareness, it is becoming difficult to make workers stay on in the city. It is not just the employees currently working in Gurgaon that are a cause for concern for their companies. Several firms are also finding it difficult to acquire new talent, said Sood. “We generally hire people from overseas for new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data, and while the prospective candidates are excited about opportunities in India, they do not want to relocate to NCR,” he said, adding he is also facing pressure from his family to move out of Gurgaon.

Manas Fuloria, CEO of IT firm Nagarro, said Gurgaon could lose companies and capital at this rate. “We can see a flight of talent due to environmental concerns. Cities like Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru are becoming preferable alternatives,” he said.

Niranjan Raje, a former member of the Supreme Court-empowered Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), said that air pollution is adversely affecting the lives of people in Gurgaon, especially infants and the elderly. “Retired people like me have a lot of trouble breathing and chest-related issues as well, hence we move out of the city every winter. However, now more youngsters are also thinking of moving to cities such as Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru,” said Raje.

Several startups and their employees have already started the process of shifting. For instance, Smriti Anand, who works with CoWrks, a company providing co-working space, is moving to Bengaluru.

“The bad air has completely ruined my immunity system and I am frequently unwell. I realised that the city was not worth so much damage to my well-being,” she said.

Another city professional, Mohammad Azam Siddiqui, who founded the Master’s Lab, an accelerator for small and medium-sized enterprises, has relocated to Lucknow. “I was diagnosed with a condition called polycythemia, which is basically thickening of blood. The doctors said that it was due to the high pollution levels so I had to move. Now I visit Gurgaon once in 10 days,” he said. The state government’s move to amend the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900 to allow more construction in the Aravalis and the rollout of a road project through the Aravali Biodiversity Project has only added to apprehensions. “They have cleared a major road project crossing through the park without discussing it with the stakeholders,” said a senior corporate executive. The order to amend the PLPA was later stayed by the Supreme Court.