Cops to get charge of venues by Sept 15

With the delay in Commonwealth Games projects, the work to put in place security measures for ensuring smooth conduct of the event is also getting delayed. The stadia, practice venues and housing projects will now be handed over to the police only by September 15. Police were supposed to begin security drills, anti-sabotage checks and lock-in the stadia at least a month before the start of the Games.

Now, they are in a fix regarding deployment of personnel and security drills to be undertaken at various Games venues and will be forced to run security drills just days before the Games beginning October 3.

Last year, Delhi Police had claimed that they would take charge of the stadia, Games Village, practice venues and the housing projects at least a month before the Games. However, commissioner of police, Y S Dadwal, claimed that the force is ready for the Games and has even deployed personnel in all the four security layers. "We have been carrying out security drills and there is no threat to CWG," Dadwal claimed.

But what senior officers handling the Games security fear is that they might have to pay for no fault on their part. Most of the Games projects are still under construction. Moreover, once work is finished, a large number of unauthorized structures inside and outside the venues will have to be removed.

Presence of migrant labourers also pose as threat to security. "The agencies claim that there is no such issue but if something happens, the onus will be on us. Police are doing their best from procurement of equipment, deployment and execution of security plan. The force needs completed structures to install security gadgets," said a police officer on condition of anonymity.

"The issue of security was also raised during the recently-concluded security seminar with the security heads of all the participating nations in Delhi. Most of these representatives were given presentation on paper. The real threat exists on the ground and loopholes might remain in a bid to finish the Games-related work quickly. It is yet not clear how Delhi Police plans to respond to such situations," said a police officer in charge of Games security.

In a move to thwart possible disruption of the Games by terrorists, Delhi Police is seeking the help of other agencies, including National Investigation Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation and National Security Guards, to create a multi-agency centre to assist Delhi Police in case of any emergency.

Refusing to elaborate on the role of this newly-created agency, an officer of Delhi Police said, "This has been done as there are several inputs indicating that terrorists might try to disrupt the Games. We will have a system in place to immediately respond to any emergencies in case there is a terror strike."