No deadlines, Delhi will be ready for Games before Oct 3: Dikshit

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Friday confirmed that the Aug 31 deadline for completion of Commonwealth Games-related projects will not be met but said that Delhi will be ready for the mega sporting event before Oct 3 or 15 days earlier, provided the sun shines and the rains stop.

After inaugurating a parking site at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here, Dikshit acknowledged that the incessant rains have been an obstacle in meeting the deadline, but at the same time refuted rumours that the venues will not be ready in time.

"We have full faith in our authorities that they will ready the venues on time, but incessant rains are hampering the progress of preparations of the venues. And we pray to the rain gods to have mercy on us," Dikshit said.

The chief minister asserted that the Oct 3-14 Games are a national and not a political issue.

"We have beautifully engineered the city, not only in areas in the vicinity of the Commonwealth Games village and venues, but also areas lying far outside," she added.

On removal of debris from across the city, she said the work will be done by Sep 10 and so far 145,000 tonnes of debris have been removed from various areas of the city.

Earlier, Dikshit had set Aug 10 as the deadline to remove the debris.