The System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), which provides information about air quality, weather and the current UV index was launched by Dr Shailesh Nayak, secretary, Ministry of

Pune: City-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology officially launched its second ‘System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) - Pune’ for Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad on Wednesday. Other facilities such as ‘air quality and weather assessment and data on hitech-digital India’ (AWADHI) — a one stop-shop for metro air quality information was also launched.

In addition to it, an ‘interactive voice response (IVR) service’ was also introduced, where citizens of Pune can get the current and 24-hour advance forecast information on air quality and weather of Pune and Delhi just by dialing a toll free number.

The city is astonishingly recording low pollution.

In what could be termed as alarming, the levels of two key pollutants - respirable particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) - in Gurgaon are higher as compared to adjoining cities.

Except for Manali, other areas saw higher RSPM levels than previous year

A. Heera, a resident of Ajax in Tiruvottiyur, remembers a time when her area was clean and beautiful. “Now, the roads are so dusty a brown cloud hovers when vehicles pass by. The roads in our area are hardly swept and with construction work and road widening on, the dust is unimaginable,” she said.

With the increase in number of vehicles and frequent traffic jams at major junctions of the city, the air pollution levels are increasing year by year forcing people’s health into danger.

The major areas and road junctions that witness high air pollution in the city are Auto Nagar, Benz Circle, police control room junction, and Eluru Road and Bandar Road.

Pollution levels in the iron ore belts of Goa dropped considerably after mining activity was banned in September last, bringing them within the permissible limits, according to the data placed befo

Supreme Court had imposed an interim ban on mining activity in Goa in September last.

PANJIM: The mining ban has come as a blessing for people living in mining belts as government records indicate that pollution levels along the mining talukas have shown a drastic decline.

According to the data tabled in the House by Minister for Environment Alina Saldanha, since September 2012, the pollution level has been much below the permissible limit, which was beyond permissible limit from 2011 till September 2012.