Air quality forecasting system for C'Wealth Games launched

India today became the third nation to have an air quality forecasting system for a major sport event with the government unveiling a dense network of observatories to monitor the levels of pollutants in the air.

With the launch of System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), New Delhi has become the first city in the country which will have a 24-hour advance forecast for pollutants like Ozone, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, particulate matters of less than 2.5 microns and 10 microns, benzene, toluene, xylene and black carbon.

"The system has been tested for the past three weeks and the air quality in the capital has ranged between 'good' and 'moderate' during the project," Gufran Beig, Program Director SAFAR told reporters here.

He said a dense network of 11 Air Quality Monitoring Stations, 35 Automatic Weather Stations and advanced radars have been set up in the national capital region for the purpose.

SAFAR will monitor round-the-clock air quality across the city and Commonwealth Games Venues in particular. Huge screens have been erected at Games venues to display the air quality index (AQI) of that particular place.

The AQI in the range of 1-100 is defined as 'good' (represented in green colour); 101-200 as 'moderate' (yellow); 201-300 as 'poor' (orange) and 'very poor' (red).

"We have taken this event as an opportunity to showcase our capability to the world," Shailesh Nayak, secretary, ministry of earth sciences said.

India is the third country to have such a system for a major sporting event besides Australia and China, he said, adding SAFAR was entirely an indigenous effort which cost Rs8 crore.