Air pollution is undoubtedly one of the biggest problems developing countries like India are facing. And proper measures shall be taken to control air pollution to avoid any further degradation of our environment. Keeping in mind the same worries, government of India way back in 2010 released an application through which the air quality in a particular area or a city can be calculated easily named ‘SAFAR’.
Under the direction of the project director Gufran Beig, the SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research) was first launched in 2010 Commonwealth Games. Later then the mobile app of the same project was released for the first time on February 17, 2015 in Delhi which allowed checking the air quality for only two cities Delhi and Pune. Later in May 2015, Mumbai also joined the league. So this Govt app for Monitoring Pollution is currently running in Delhi, Pune Mumbai and now begins in Rajasthan as well.
It is the first app in the country which allowed the users to do a current and advanced forecast of air in the respective cities. Now continuing the same, the largest state of the country Rajasthan has also joined the queue. The state government of Rajasthan has recently launched a similar app named RajVayu which would provide the users air quality index of the capital city Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur. The app was launched by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje on the occasion of World Environment Day.
“The application provides real time alerts to the board and industry for any exceedances beyond the stipulated regulatory norms and enables industries to take corrective action immediately,” said an official.
With this Rajasthan becomes the first state in the country to provide air quality index of its various cities through an application. Let us tell you some key features about this wonderful app and initiative taken by the Rajasthan Government:
- The app ‘RajVayu’ is based on the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting Research (SAFAR-India) which is currently connected in Delhi,Pune and Mumbai.
- Data and information shown on the app will be based on the data collected by the various refined air quality monitoring equipments.
- The app has been designed by Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) in cooperation with Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).
- It would tell the users about the air quality, various pollutants like SOx, CO, NOx, Ozone particles and Particulate Matter (PM). Considered as the most harmful and dangerous air pollutants PM- Particulate Matter includes, nitrates, sulphates, sodium chloride ammonia, mineral dust and black carbon etc.
- It would also inform the users about wind speed, temperature, advisories and weather forecast.
- By 2017, the state government plans to extend it to various other districts like Ajmer, Bhiwadi, Alwar, Pali and Kota.
The method was time consuming and cumbersome. It also required a lot of administrative exercise to establish a case against the industry. The biggest demerit was that data was taken after a gap of months. Now, in the new system the data is being monitored all the time,” said a board official.
Project Director of SAFAR, Gufran Beig said, “The process is on to start this app for Mumbai by April or May, and by 2017 we hope to extend our forecasting services to Chennai and Kolkata. The colour coding and the advisories are designed to make information understandable for the general public.”
