COMMANWEALTH GAMES 2010:

The 2010 Commonwealth Games will be the nineteenth Commonwealth Games, and the ninth to be held under that name. The Games are scheduled to be held in New Delhi, India between 3 October and 14 October 2010. The games will be the largest multi-sport event conducted to date in Delhi and as per the reports of Central Pollution Control Board it will adversely affect the air quality in the capital. The board’s member-secretary, SD Makhijani, said massive building work for October’s Games and the subsequent traffic congestion are to blame for a large increase in nitrogen oxides and particulate matter in the air in New Delhi.

Moreover New Zealand teams are planning a hit-and-run mission at October's Commonwealth Games in India, just because of Delhi's high pollution. A report by a leading sports scientist has warned New Zealand athletes to prepare offshore and fly to India as late as three days before their events, to minimise the effects of air pollution. Usually, athletes would spend a fortnight in the Games village before their events. As per the report by New Zealand Academy of Sport performance physiologist Paul Laursen, pollution levels in Delhi of 144 ppm (parts per million) compared to 88 in Beijing. The city has more than four million vehicles and nearly half run on diesel, leading to high levels of carbon monoxide in the air. Forbes magazine recently rated Delhi the 24th dirtiest city in the world.

The air pollution monitoring and forecasting system, which has been set up especially for the Commonwealth Games, threw up these statistics. Six venues, including Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Indira Gandhi Stadium and the Commonwealth games Village had moderately high levels of CO while the IGI Airport showed worryingly high levels, scoring 300 on the air quality index of 1-500. Laursen has investigated venues and facilities in Singapore, where Canada and Australia's Games' federations have already made bookings. He said that it’s best not to arrive soon. Regarding the effects of it he said that the Worst hit by the pollution will be endurance athletes competing outdoors and the competitors in the cycling road races.