Commonwealth Games Venues still far from finishing line

With less than two months left to the Commonwealth Games, the organising committee (OC) seems to be facing an uphill task. While officially, the OC has been at pains to claim that it has moved into all venues, sources say a lot of work still needs to be done before it can take over the venues fully. From addition of water lines to putting in an extra door at a venue, a list of pending works has been handed over to the venue owners.

Wednesday’s torrential rain didn’t help matters with complaints of waterlogging coming from several venues, including Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. It also prompted the top brass of Central Public Works Department (CPWD) to visit all the sites.

Said Lalit Bhanot, secretary general, OC, ‘‘Our officials have moved into all the venues for carrying out inventory. Complete handover should happen soon.’’ Bhanot, who visited venues after the rain on Wednesday, claimed all matters were being discussed with venue onwers before the takeover. Asked if he was satisfied with the state of progress, Bhanot claimed everything was on schedule. Senior officials of CPWD also visited venues in the backdrop of the rain.

BK Chugh, director general (works) of CPWD, denied there were any instances of waterlogging at any of the sites. ‘‘A few areas may have temporarily witnessed some water accumulation but that is not waterlogging. All our venues are ready. Only the remaining work that OC wants done is being undertaken at the sites,’’ claimed Chugh.

Sources, however, said the situation was different on the ground. Waterlogging was witnessed not only at JLN stadium but also at venues such as Talkatora and IG indoor stadium. Across town, the venues being built by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) — Siri Fort and Yamuna sports complex — also saw waterlogging. While DDA officials admitted some leakage was reported at Yamuna sports complex, they said it was temporary. ‘‘Pipes overflowed in some areas but it was part of the ongoing work,’’ said a site official.