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Commonwealth team visits games sites to take stock |
Amid mounting concerns over New Delhi's preparedness for holding the Commonwealth Games
next year, a games' committee team visited various sites here to take stock. Led
by Mike Fennell, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), the team
visited the games village to assess progress. The lack of preparations in New
Delhi has been a cause of concern for Fennell, who had written to the organisers
last month expressing his concern at the organisers' reluctance to hire foreign
experts and the tardy progress of work. He also demanded an urgent meeting with
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to help "revive" the games. The games' organising
committee has received a lot of flak for its tardy progress with the construction
of many venues, including the athletes' village, running behind schedule and forcing
the postponement or shifting of many international meetings planned as test events.
"They have a lot of work to do," a member of the Commonwealth Federation accompanying
Fennell said. Organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi has insisted his team
had sufficient experience, but India has not hosted a major event since the 1982
Asian Games. Fennell had said personnel with games experience must be appointed
in management, planning and operational roles including transportation, technology,
ticketing and logistics. While Fennell praised the government for it's backing
of the games, he targeted the organising committee. The games village near the
Akshardham Temple in East Delhi will house more than 8000 athletes during the
event. As part of the railways' preparations for the games, the Railways have
given their nod for covering rail tracks running close to the games village. The
1.1 km-long sound proof corridor will be constructed by the Delhi Development
Authority (DDA). As many as 600 trains pass through this area every day, making
it one of the busiest and congested stretches in the country. Besides this, several
beautification programmes in New Delhi station would also be carried out. |
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