Govt plans to hide unfinished Games work behind curtains

What you cannot finish, just cover up. That seems to be Delhi government’s motto, given the scale and pace of last-minute construction work for the Commonwealth Games and the impending rains which may temporarily halt most of the work.

Increasingly faced with the prospect of the work not getting completed on time, the city government, sources say, is considering putting up scaffold nettings or shade cloth of high density polythene microfilaments (that is dust and fire-proof) to cover unfinished construction sites.

This will be done ‘‘aesthetically’’ to ensure that the city does not look ‘‘under-prepared’’. ‘‘It will only be done for unfinished sites near Games venues. It should apply more for MCD and DDA than for us because our works are on course. We are not even competent to issue instructions to these agencies. Only the LG office can do so,’’ said a top Delhi government official.

Discussions about issuing a notification to restrict large-scale construction work during the first two weeks of October when Games will be on are at an advanced stage, sources say. ‘‘It is essential that the dust and grime that seems to have taken over do not hamper visitors’ impression of the city during the Games. That is why this is one of the proposals we are considering,’’ said a senior Delhi government official, confirming that sometime back, a letter had been received from the LG’s office too suggesting both the ban on construction and option of using scaffold netting to cover construction sites. Sources say the letter, signed by Ranjan Mukherjee, who is the OSD (Commonwealth Games) to the LG, was received about three months ago.

Officials say, if construction sites are indeed covered, the city would take a leaf out of other cities that have hosted mega-event like Beijing and Sydney. But a section in the government feels that better monitoring and enforcement of deadlines could have saved the city government this embarrassment.

‘‘It does not take rocket science to know that monsoon hits Delhi sometime in late June or early July, and it has a major slowdown effect on construction. After all the criticism received over the past year or so, we have allowed matters to come to such a pass that options like these have to be considered,’’ said an official closely involved with the preparations.