– TSK 25K is a ‘zero to land fill’ – 100% waste managed and inherently green event –

– Five ambulances, Six medical stations + 200 medical personnel by Fortis Hospitals for participant safety – 

~Devic Earth Pure Skies Systems deployed for the first time ~

At the unveiling of the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K 2018 Route (L to R), Rathin Banerjee Vice President WBAA, Dr. Sanjukta Dutta, Head Medical Emergency, Fortis Hospitals Anandapur and Medical Director, Hugh Jones, General Secretary AIMS and Race Director, Debasish Kumar –MMIC, Sports, Parks and Advertisements, KMC, Kolkata, Santosh Pandey, DC Traffic and Dr Srikanth Sola, Co-founder, Director & CEO, Devic Earth.

Procam International, promoters of the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, outlined arrangements that are in place for the 15000+ participants on Sunday, 16^th December including medical facilities and the route at a media conference on Wednesday.

Distance running is a mass participative sport and an event of this stature and scale requires massive coordination between all the stake holders at various levels to ensure an enhanced running experience for all participants.

Addressing various aspects of the event were Meeraz Khalid, DC South, Law & Order; Santosh Pandey, DC Traffic; Hugh Jones, General Secretary AIMS and Race Director; Dr. Sanjukta Dutta, Head Medical Emergency, Fortis Hospitals Anandapur and Medical Director; Rathin Banerjee Vice President WBAA, Dr Srikanth Sola, Co-founder, Director & CEO, Devic Earth and Vivek Singh, Jt. MD, Procam International.

RACE DAY ARRANGEMENTS

Runners are TSK25K’s biggest stakeholders and Procam will continue to deploy initiatives towards making the race day more memorable for all participants. Facilities will be focused in the following areas– Medical Facilities, Anti-pollution measures, Suspended Particulate Management and becoming a ‘zero to land fill’ 100% waste managed event.

MEDICAL ARRANGEMENTS BY FORTIS HOSPITALS 

• 6 Medical Stations along the route & 1 fully equipped medical Base Station
• 5 Ambulances and 7 Medics on Bikes along the race route to ensure help is made available at all times.
• 50 Doctors, 50 Physiotherapists & 100 plus Nurses spread along the route and medical stations
• Nebulizer’s deployed at all facilities to address any respiratory distress
• Medical personnel present at the finish line equipped with stretchers and wheelchairs to attend to emergencies
• Spotters will be placed every 100m during the last 2kms of the race to identify participants who need medical attention.

 ANTI POLLUTION MEASURES

Tata Steel Kolkata 25K has initiated the measures below to enhance the course for all its runners.  The initiatives which will be deployed on the course and in the holding, area include:

• Patented ecologically safe technology: Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radio pulses to be concentrated over the course to catalyze clearance of air pollutants primarily through dry deposition       
• Spraying of salt mixed with effluent treated water to avoid the rise of dust, settle the dust particles and for suspended particulate matter precipitation. 

As ascertained by multiple experts, the salt mixed water binds with the dust and reduces the volume of suspended particulate matter and when the water which has been sprayed on the roads starts vaporizing, it creates a safe and clean channel for runners to run.

PURE SKIES SYSTEMS BY DEVIC EARTH

After the recent success and proven effectiveness at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, Procam International is again working closely with Devic Earth and their Pure Skies system conceptualized & executed by Dr. Srikanth Sola Co-Founder, Director and CEO, Devic Earth. 

This patented remarkable technology reduces specific airborne pollutants such as: carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and particulate matter less than 10 microns (both PM10 and PM2.5). 

The Pure Skies systems are ideal for addressing non-point sources of air pollution found across urban areas (e.g. vehicle emissions, road dust) as well as point sources such as heavy industries, thermal power plants, and large buildings. Each system covers an area of over 10 kms 

Air quality index typically improves by an average 33%; more so in heavily polluted areas.

Pure Skies systems will be deployed for the TSK25K at 4 locations, specialized radio frequency transmitter coils will safely and effectively reduce ambient air pollution levels and carbon emissions. 

GREEN INITIATIVES & WASTE MANAGEMENT – TSK 2018 

Procam International’s distance running events are 100% waste managed events, with a focus on managing waste through the 6R PRINCIPAL – RETHINK, REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE & REPLACE.

Procam International is closely working with Greencepts Technology & Solution and Hasiru Dala Innovations, a social enterprise- focused on creating better livelihoods for waste pickers who are advising different eco-friendly alternatives and ensure efficient waste management. They will be assisted by local agencies such as Disha (Society for Direct Initiative for Social and Health Action) in executing the housekeeping and waste management services and their associates’ – Vital Waste, will be handling/recycling all the dry waste generated at the event along with Hiland Group who will focus on organic waste processing.

TSK GREEN COMMITMENTS INCLUDE:

1. Ensuring Zero waste to Landfill.
2. Fast Track last mile waste disposal.
3. Use TSK as a platform to promote awareness about waste management & environmental practices through adequate communication

INITIATIVES INCLUDE:

– Online registrations, a digital handbook for participants and email communications with participants to help reduce paper consumption
– Reusable cloth bags for bibs, bibs distributed *without* plastic cover & paper bags used for event kitting and refreshment distribution. Participants will also be encouraged to return the plastic covers of the event T-shirts in designated bins to ensure no plastic from the event enters the city waste stream

-Encouraging our partners to further boost effective waste management by segregating waste at source, recycling & reusing waste generated.
-Training of waste handlers & supervisors on effective operations (collection of waste where littered, ensure segregation)

-Dry & Wet Waste segregated at the source of generation ie: the event expo, course , holding area, start/finish, event marquees, media centre among others

o   All areas are manned by tagged bins for collection of dry and wet waste.

o   On Race Day at the Venue – there are Waste kiosk (Large centralized waste disposal & collection stations), that will have separate bins – DRY for paper, tetra packs etc, PLASTIC for PET bottles, food containers and WET for food waste.

o   Participants will be encouraged to dispose in the right bins through various announcements and waste pickers / volunteers.

-Enhanced infrastructure for waste management: 120 waste handlers on the route, 71 waste handlers on venue & 25 Green marshals to supervise waste
management

Hasiru Dala Innovations, will ensure the fast-track last mile disposal of waste to the appropriate destinations to ensure no waste goes to landfill

– Organic waste – composted at an organic composting facility of Hiland Riverside Project, Kolkata. A part of the compost from the organic waste composted by Highland will be diverted to the horticulture department

– Pet bottles and other plastics will be shredded to flakes and upcycled to backpacks, raincoats, umbrella’s, etc by Vital Waste

– Waste paper and cardboard will be recycled to fresh new paper, files, craft paper etc. Vital Waste will give back 1000 note pads to the children of the waste picker community who has worked in the marathon

– Tetra packs of energy drinks will be sent to the company Tetra pak (through DISHA & Vital Waste) for recycling to roofing sheets and benches 

– Flex management : Swabhimaan, an independent NGO working with the disadvantaged to provide livelihood, will be cutting the flex from frames and making them into sheets that will be sent to villages like Haldapada, Medapada & Tuchde near Bardhaman. The large sheets will be used for roofing, medium size sheets will be given to street vendors on which they may spread their wares, the smaller sheets will be used to make shopping bags.

– Sewage waste – Treated & recycled at Dhapa Wastewater Treatment plant. (Kolkata Municipal Council)

Detailed wasted management report, along with waste generation data will also be
promoted on the event website and social media platforms

OTHER FACILITIES ON-COURSE & IN-STADIA

To keep all participants sufficiently hydrated there will be 14 Bisleri water stations along the course. 53190 liters of water will be deployed for participants. Six water stations will be managed by runner groups from Kolkata including South Kolkata Runners, Striders, North Kolkata Runners, Salt Lake Runners, Road Runners, Happy Feet Howrah.

Complementing the water stations would be 5 ORSL Restoration & one Post Finish station that will deploy 30,850  Tetra Packs of ORSL and 5 Nature Valley Recharge zones stacked with oranges & Nature Valley Bar for all the runners.

Arrangements have been made for a total of 150 Porta Pottys, from which 60 will be distributed in the holding areas at Red Road, while 40 will be stationed along the route.

To ensure top notch security at the event ,there will be 1000 + Security Guards deployed, 100 Bouncers, 30 CC TV Cameras    and more than 1300 volunteers.

The event ‘Ignited by PUMA’, will conduct a special warm-up for all half marathon participants. The ‘Volini Recovery Zone’ will also be set-up at the finish line to address any and all recovery needs of the runners, with Volini Recovery Experts providing educated opinion for all runner needs.

Mirchi Get Active Health & Fitness Expo is a one-stop destination for runners and a unique opportunity for health, fitness and well-being enthusiasts to come together under one roof. The expo is scheduled from 13th to 15th December 2018 between 10.30 am to 7 pm (Thursday & Friday) and 10 am to 5pm (Saturday) at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra. 

Registered participants will also get a chance to meet TSK 25K International Event Ambassador Greg Louganis on Saturday, 15th Dec at 11.00 am.

RACE DAY TIMING & TELECAST 

The Tata Steel Kolkata 25K will telecast live on Star Sports Select 1 & Star Sports 1HD from 6:30 am to 10:00 am. The event will also be streamed live on Hotstar.

For more information about the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, the event website is: http://tsk25.procamrunning.in

Other links:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TSKolkata25/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TSK25K
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/tskolkata25