Green code unveiled for zero-carbon Games

Delhi will produce 1,50,000 tonnes of green-house gases during the sports event to be held from October 3 to 14. The document provides tangible targets to ensure the event is carbon neutral.

Organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi said the release of the ecological code is part of their commitment to create a benchmark for other multi-disciplinary sporting events in the future. “The organising committee is passionately committed to make the event the first ever Green Games in the history of sporting events,” Kalmadi said. Plans are being finalised to plant saplings across the country as part of the “green initiative”,he added.

Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor,who heads the sub-committee for Green Games,said the ecological code will go a long way towards enriching the Green Games concept. The document has been diligently prepared to make the event a memorable sporting extravaganza,he said. The organising committee has tied up with United Nations Environment Programme for the project. “We truly believe the Thyagraj Stadium is world-class. It could be a global benchmark,” Satindra Bindra from UNEP said. The UNEP will also set up a mechanism to measure the carbon footprint of the event,Bindra added.