Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan hasunveiled the first of a kind Air Quality and Weather Forecast System, SAFAR atChandni Chowk in New Delhi. The giant true colour LED display will givereal-time air quality index on 24×7 basis with colour coding along with 72-houradvance forecast. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said, if 5 per cent ofpeople suffering from air-pollution related diseases take advantage of theadvisories and precautions in Delhi alone, it will result in a saving nearly2,500 crore rupees in terms of health-related cost benefit.

The new system cantrack UV-Index, PM1, Mercury and Black carbon in real time and will providehealth advisory and related precaution. He said the mission model project SAFARis implemented in four cities of India which includes Delhi, Pune, Mumbai andAhmedabad as an operational service. SAFAR will accelerate public awareness andpreparedness of air pollution and weather extremes.