Work at full throttle for venue lockdown
With security agencies failing to take over and lock down the Commonwealth Games Village and venues even on Thursday, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) has cracked the whip and told the Organising Committee and other authorities concerned to complete the work at the venues by Friday midnight, so that they can be handed over to the Delhi police by Saturday morning.
Union home minister P. Chidambaram had reviewed the security arrangements for Games at a meeting in North Block on Thursday. The Delhi police had informed the home minister that full security will be provided once the venues are handed over to it. Underlining the race against the clock, Mr Chidambaram had directed that the minutes of the meeting be forwarded to the Organising Committee.
Officials said that as many as 420 people had been given special passes to complete the unfinished work in the Games Village. Another 200 workers are engaged in finishing the work on the Village exterior.
“The Village can only be sanitised and security-cleared once these workers complete the work,” an official said.
The fact that the foreign athletes and delegates are expected to start coming from September 25 is only adding to the rising panic level. While arrangements had been made to host 8,000 guests, the latest estimates suggest that only 6,000 guests were likely to arrive.
“As a result, of the 34 residential towers in the Games Village, eight will not be used,” said an official.
Meanwhile, chief minister Sheila Dikshit visited the Games Village on Friday and stayed there for over an hour to inspect the cleaning work currently underway there.
She had earlier taken charge of the Village after recommendation by the Cabinet secretary. Delhi government officials pointed out that the chief minister was on the inspection to check that the cleaning work in the Games Village finishes before the lock down.
The city government has also roped in managers from five-star hotels in the city to supervise housekeeping work at the Village. Ms Dikshit, who was in the Village for over an hour in the morning, returned in the evening to inspect the residential towers. By night, the CM, her principal secretary, the chief secretary and special secretary Keshav Chandra had spent over six hours in the Village.
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