Govt wants agencies to hand over roads soon

Finally, Delhi-ites can expect some respite from dug up roads. Seeing the condition of arterial roads in the city, a majority of which are dug up due to construction of Delhi Metro, flyovers, subways or streetscaping work ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Delhi government held a review meeting with all the agencies concerned asking them to clear out stretches on schedule.

To start with, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Public Works Department (PWD) were reportedly asked to hand-over roads to the road-owning agencies so that streetscaping and beautification of the stretches can commence. "DMRC has given an undertaking that all the roads under their jurisdiction will be handed back to the road-owning agencies by April 13 for streetscaping. Other projects like flyovers, etc will also follow the same schedule,'' said chief secretary Rakesh Mehta.

At present, several roads are dug up for construction of new medians, pavements and street furniture leading to traffic jams. This had become a major cause for concern for the government as it was felt that the roads will not get cleared out in time. "All streetscaping activity will also be completed by June,'' Mehta added. The government had called a review meeting of Commonwealth Games projects on Thursday in which representatives from Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), PWD, DMRC, Delhi traffic police and the city government.

DMRC officials said that the corporation had initially taken over about 40 km of roads for construction activity, of which about 30 km has already been handed back. "We are ready to give another 3-4 km this month and the rest by April. The construction of all the lines is nearing completion,'' said a DMRC spokesperson. The roads to clear out soon include the main roads in Nehru Place and Naraina, Humayun Road, Aurobindo Marg and Rohtak Road.

Concern was expressed about the progress of other projects related to the Games. The agencies revealed that almost all are on schedule. "There were some projects which are running a little behind the schedule. But work will now be expedited and these projects will now be completed well in time for the Games,'' said an official. Some stretches like Metro's Badarpur line, PWD's Naraina flyover, NDMC's CP restoration are a bit delayed, but work on these are being taken up on a warfooting now.

It was decided that no new projects will be started now, unless they can be completed before October. For this, MCD has been asked to submit a road wise plan to the traffic police, which will be reviewed. Traffic circulation will be studied at Naraina where new bus stops are coming up and ITO bridge where repairs are about to start.

The Union urban development ministry reviewed the projects 10 days back.

Woman power at the Organising Committee

Nearly 40% of the workforce is women

The cat is out of the bag. The secret is out – a major component of the workforce destined to organize the best-ever Commonwealth Games will be women.

38.5% and still counting more, is the current status of women working in the Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi.

The Atrium of the Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi’s office was echoing with laughter, cheers and whistles as the OC’s strong women workforce came together for the first time on the eve of the International Women’s Day. The relentless shutterbugs tried to capture the mood as the enthusiastic women posed with Shera, the Games mascot and Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, MP & Chairman, Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010.

Professional competency has been the key towards appointment of the workforce at the OC. The specialized and efficient workforce of the OC boasts of a strong presence of 38.5% women in all the 36 Functional Areas of the organisation. Through their dedication, commitment and a strong sense of responsibility have made their presence felt across the functional areas viz; Workforce recruitment, Communications, Image and Look, Hospitality, Venue Operations, Finance right up to Security.

Of the total workforce employed by the OC CWG Delhi 2010, 35 Senior positions are spearheaded by women who come with versatile backgrounds and proven expertise in their respective areas.

Yamuna Sports Complex ready to host Commonwealth Invitational Archery Test Event

Yamuna Sports Complex is all set to host Invitational Archery Test Event from 8 to 12 March 2010. More than 100 men and women archers and 45 team officials from ten Commonwealth countries will participate in the event.

Mr. V. K. Malhotra, President of the Archery Association of India has expressed his satisfaction over the preparation of the test event. He enunciated that organisational preparation of the event is in full swing by holding regular meeting and discussions with multiple agencies and stakeholders including various functional areas of Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Delhi Police, Venue Owner – DDA and other concerned departments.

Apart from the hosts- India- top archers from England, New Zealand, Scotland, Malaysia, Singapore, Wales, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Jersey will participate in the event that will have high level competition in four categories viz., Recurve Men, Recurve Women, Compound Men and Compound Women.

The Test Event will be organised as per the new rules and guidelines given by the International Archery Federation (FITA) for all four categories. On 8 March 2010, official practice will be held in both the sessions (morning and evening). The qualification round is slated for 9 March and based on the scoring of 72 arrows at 70 metres, pairing of archers will be drawn for the elimination rounds scheduled to be held on 10 and 11 March. Finals will be held on 11 and 12 March.

CGF confident of safe and successful Delhi CWG

The CGF CEO Mike Hooper today assured the concerned foreign athletes by saying the security planning for the Commonwealth Games is satisfactory and that India would host a safe and successful event in October.

PTI quoted Mr. Hooper, "There are some concerns but our security planning is on track and we are happy with the progress. We will continue our collaboration with the authorities and the Delhi Police to take stock of the situation in future. But we are confident about a safe and successful Games".

"We have already advised our member associations about security arrangements. We have told them despite the Pune attacks and recent threat by a terrorist group, please be assured that security planning for the Games is on track.