Delhi Going Green for Games: Sheila Dikshit

Emphasizing that the Commonwealth Games in 2010 is being celebrated as a green event, chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday told the Organizing Committee (OC) that the color should be showcased prominently across the city during the sporting extravaganza.

Her reaction came after the Image and Look team of the OC presented before her the color combination, green, pink and purple, that it plans to use during the Games.

However, Sheila suggested that there should be less of purple and pink and more of green.

After the Look team, led by Additional Director General Sangeeta Welinkar, made a presentation on how it wants to adorn the city, the CM told the members to keep the beautification campaign a well-guarded secret till the sporting event. She told them not to share the ‘beauty tips’ right now with anyone.

So, the first phase of the ‘Look’ will be presented before the representatives of all 71 participating countries during the general assembly in October this year. The CM asserted that the next phase of making the ‘Look’ public should not commence before April next year. She also expressed concern that the Games mascot, ‘Shera’, should not be over-exposed too early.

To the idea of painting the green and red buses with the Games logo, the CM said that she was averse to it as this was an unnecessary expenditure for a 15-day event. However, she welcomed the idea of pasting removable stickers on all modes of public transport.

The Image & Look team is busy mixing shades and textures to evoke the dynamism of Delhi to ready her for the final show next year. From colorful schemes for bus-Q shelters, Metro stations, pillars, low-floor buses and autorickshaws to designer wrap-ups for covering old and faded buildings, ‘The Look’ aims to paint the Capital in Games shades.

Forms and textures have been carved out from the capital’s rich architectural heritage, including the Mughal period structures. For instance, there are plans to replicate lattice screen (jali) from Red Fort in signages, kiosks and building wraps across the city.