NEWS

An ecological code for the Commonwealth Games was released on Wednesday, encapsulating a series of measures to be taken by the Delhi government as well as the Games organising committee to offset the carbon footprint left by the event.The Delhi 2010 Ecological Code was jointly released by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi and Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor. The Code will employ various environment-friendly measures like waste management, energy efficiency and planting of saplings.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. 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.