NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has given Procam International permission to proceed with the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon as planned this Sunday.
The organisers submitted to the HC that they have put in a refund policy for runners who wish to opt out and that there would be measures in place to deal with any medical emergencies. Procam also said that they will be taking measures to minimise the impact of pollution on the race day.
A Bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sanjeev Sachdeva had issued a notice to the Delhi government, police, the pollution control panel DPCC and the organisers of the event, seeking their reply by November 16, after the Indian Medical Association (IMA) urged the Delhi High Court to pass directions to postpone the Half Marathon.
Title sponsors Airtel too has said it will take necessary measures including the spray of salt treated effluent water to curb the pollution along the route to keep participating athletes safe, reports say. Traffic will be suspended for eight hours on the route before the event kicks off on Sunday morning.
“The two major causes of pollution – dust and vehicular traffic are being directly addressed by us on the race day. Through the entire 21 kms course of the race, we are sprinkling salt treated effluent water to effectively settle the dust on the roads,” a company statement said.
A record 35,000 people are expected to run in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on Sunday under different race categories (5km, 10km and 21km).
All the problems Procam has confronted in the run-up to this year’s race makes one thing clear to all concerned though. Scheduling the race in the November-December is a definite no-no going forward.
As ADHM’s long-time race director, retired British marathon champion Hugh Jones told Hindustan Times: “In the best interest of all, the event should be held in September or early October. It seems the months of November and December are not conducive for distance running due to poor air quality.”
Jones, the first Briton to win the London marathon, in 1982, and an old India hand as race director, admitted that poor air quality will affect the entire field. “All competitors, including back-of-the-pack runners, will be exercising their lungs to the fullest to get more oxygen, so everyone will be affected,” Jones told HT Wednesday.
Last year too, the issue of air pollution cropped up a week before the race, but conditions improved close to the event. This time, air quality has gone from bad to worse since October 23.
Vivek Singh, joint managing director of Procam, has told SportzPower that for the next edition, there would be discussions with all stakeholders so as to determine the best alternative window to hold the race. That would necessarily include athletics’ world governing body IAAF.
