Organising Committee releases ecological code for 2010 Commonwealth Games - - India News Times

The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee on Wednesday launched an ecological Code for 2010 Games in an attempt to host the first ever 'green' Commonwealth Games. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, formally released the code that draws the environmental vision of the organising committee. Dixit, said that it would take some time to make the city's Yamuna River, pollution free. "It will take some time to clean Yamuna River as per our desired expectations and programme...we never said that Yamuna would be clean five months before the commencement of Commonwealth Games...it is a very big project and nowhere in the world a river is cleaned in such a short period...the project work is underway, as you are aware," she said. The code outlines targets set by the organisers to cut down the levels of carbon emissions during the forthcoming multinational, multi-sport event. Among the measures outlined in the code, a massive plantation drive of saplings and the introduction of hybrid vehicles are planned by the organizing committee to minimize the carbon footprints at the games. The code also define the impact of the games on land, energy, water, waste and air, besides defining measures taken to control the level of carbon emissions during the sporting event. Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi said the forthcoming games would set a benchmark for other sporting events. "We are proud to host the first ever green Commonwealth Games. It is the first time the Commonwealth Games are green games and we are proud of it. The organizing committee is deeply and passionately committed towards preserving and restoring the environment and establishing a benchmark for low-carbon sporting event," Kalmadi said. "We are working with all key stakeholders to implement sustainability initiation in the areas of land, energy, water and waste," he added. Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, who is also the Green Games Sub-committee chairman, shared Kalmadi's view. "The overall environmental vision of this game is to start towards the consumption of carbon neutrality. This is going to establish a benchmark of future sporting events... the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is associated with our efforts to try and reach the kinds of world-level standards that Delhi rightly must always inspire," Tharoor said.