Dikshit nervous about Games preparations

With just 45 days left for the Commonwealth Games and many key projects yet to be completed, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said she was still "nervous" about the preparations.

"It is normal to be nervous till completion of all the works related to the event," Dikshit said when asked whether she was still nervous about the Games.

She said some works have been affected due to rains in the last few days.

Dikshit also took a pot shot at the media for portraying a negative picture of the preparations.

"If you find something wrong then you keep showing them repeatedly," she said, pointing towards the electronic media.

On several occasions in last few months, she had said that she was "nervous" about preparations for the mega event.

Dikshit has been under attack from various quarters for the delay in completion of key projects. Delhi government had undertaken projects worth over Rs 16,000 crore to enhance infrastructure in the city ahead of the Games.

She had last month set August 31 as deadline for completing all the projects linked to the event.

Top officials in Delhi government, however, said important projects like Barapullah Nallah elevated road and renovation of the Yamuna Sports Complex, apart from street-scaping around the Games venues are unlikely to finished by August-end.

The four-km-long Barapullah Nallah elevated road between Sarai Kale Khan and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main venue of the event, is being built to provide uninterrupted traffic flow from Games Village near Akshardham temple to the stadium. The over Rs 550-crore project has already missed several deadlines.

Meanwhile Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennell today visited a few stadiums to inspect the facilities and take stock of the progress made in completing all the work at the venues.

Fennell began his inspection tour with the net-ball venue Thyagaraj Stadium in South Delhi and then went straight to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Fennell, who arrived in the city last night, is on a two-day visit to the country.

The CGF chief, accompanied by CEO Mike Hooper, also visited Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Indira Gandhi Stadium and the Games Village.