UN praise for India’s pollution monitoring system for the Games

A pollution monitoring method developed by Indian scientists has come in for praise from the United Nations as an important step to make sure tidy air in the work of the Commonwealth Games.
According to a document published in the Economic Times dated 9 May 2010, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), a specialised agency of the UN, said the Method of Air Pollution Forecasting & Research (SAFAR) will serve as an example within India, South Asia & globally.
Aimed at managing air quality, it's been developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
‘The WMO recognizes SAFAR as a very important activity in the region & will make all efforts to get international visibility for the project,’ L. Jalkanen, head of the WMO’s Atmospheric Surroundings Research Division, wrote in a letter to SAFAR project director Gurfan Beig in March.
Scientists at IITM are elated & assured that the method will help in ensuring tidy air in the work of the Games, dubbed as the first ever Green Games.
SAFAR will provide information on air quality on an every hour basis & forecast pollution levels 24 hours in advance through wireless colour digital display panels located at 11 key points in the city in the work of the Games.
Only a few developed countries have the technical know-how to make use of such a method. It was used in the work of the Olympic Games in Beijing & also at the last Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
SAFAR’s inputs will greatly help in identifying the major sources of air pollutants & recommending measures to help improve the air quality.