The 35th National Games to be held across seven districts, including the capital city, from January 31 to February 14 will definitely have a green tint.
Already proclaimed to be a ‘truly Green Games,’ the novel initiative for the first time in the history of Indian sport will be carried out by the National Games Organising Committee with the help of the Kerala Suchitwa Mission. Disclosing the key highlights of the initiative, Mission Director K. Vasuki told a press conference here on Wednesday that this was basically an effort to use the games as a platform to bring about the cultural change that society needed in maintaining a clean and hygienic neighbourhood. “Hence, the National Games is not an end in itself but a means to achieve the larger goal of catalysing a people’s movement towards complete sanitation,” she said.
At the games, the Green Protocol Committee, as part of waste minimisation, will not allow the use of any disposable items. Regardless of one being an athlete, an official or a spectator, each person would be requested and motivated to use reusable materials, including paper cups, mineral water bottles, and disposable plates. Likewise, all would be instructed to segregate waste and use the two bins which would be provided at the Games Village and at the different venues. At the Games Village, biodegradable waste will be composted at the source itself.
