Tennis stadium handed to Games panel, work at other venues crawls

R K Khanna stadium, the venue for the tennis events, has been handed over to the Organising Committee of Commonwealth Games on Monday. The Organising Committee can heave a breath of relief as at least one stadium has been handed over to them for putting the overlays in place before the August 1 deadline.

At present, a BSES line is being laid close to the stadium connecting it to two grids to ensure power back-up.

This is the first time that tennis has been made part of Commonwealth Games. The central court of the stadium has a seating capacity of 5,000 besides six practice courts. It also has many environment friendly features, including solar lighting, Intelligent Building Management System, rainwater harvesting and dual flushing systems, among others.

Work on the other nine competition venues, however, is far from over. For instance, even though Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will inaugurated by the Sports minister on Tuesday, horticulture and other landscaping work are still going on at the venue. Inside the stadium, “finishing touches” are being given.

The status of work at SP Mukherjee Stadium is probably the worst, where red tents hide the ongoing work behind it. The street-scaping work is lagging behind and so is the horticulture and landscaping work.

All the stadiums have to be handed over to the Commonwealth Organising Committee by August 1 so that all the necessary overlays like — timing and scoring machines, cabling, setting up tents, etc, can be fitted in the stadiums.

What’s the future of stadiums?’
What will happen to the stadiums once the Games is over? The question left even Union Urban Development minister Jaipal Reddy wondering on Monday. “I do not know what we will be doing with the stadiums post the Games. I think all the agencies involved need to sit together to solve this problem,” he said during the handing over ceremony of RK Khanna Tennis Stadium. Incidentally, Reddy heads the Group of Ministers on Commonwealth Games. Reddy was later overheard discussing the issue with All India Tennis Academy officials. “If the stadium is not put in regular use, it cannot be maintained I believe,” he said. Reddy also mentioned the last-minute rush to complete the work. “We have a habit of doing everything nicely but at the last minute,” he said.

Fail deadline, get blacklisted: CM Sheila Dikshit

With several Commonwealth Games still struggling to meet the deadline, a nervous CM issued a warning to contractors constructing roads and pavements for Delhi. Any delay beyond the August 31, the deadline for completion of all Games-related projects, will lead to a blacklisting. In a meeting with contractors, CM Sheila Dikshit said the firms that don’t meet the deadline would be penalized and blacklisted.

Any compromise with the quality of work will not be tolerated, she said.

“Do not put us to shame. Your little carelessness will bring bad name to the entire nation,” she reportedly told the contractors.

Senior Delhi government officials said the CM was concerned about reports of stadiums, pavements and roads being washed away in just one spell of rain. Dikshit’s cabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats had also found tardy work and poor construction quality during their inspections of under-construction venues and roads.

Dikshit also asked the contractors to bring any kind of obstacle to the notice of the government to ensure the the matter was resolved quickly.

With little more than two months to the Games, the city government is under tremendous pressure to complete all Games-related projects in time. Early last week, Dikshit announced a month’s salary to the entire team of engineers as reward if the Games get over successfully. She also exhorted the engineers and workers to work round the clock.

Senior government officials said two important arterial roads, a couple of flyovers, and several streetscaping and streetlighting projects are yet to be completed. Some of them, accept officials, may take more than a month to complete.

On complaints of delay in payment raised by the contractors, Dikshit said money would not be a problem.

Thanks to Games, Tughlaq-era monument gets new life

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was supposed to protect it, but after issuing a preliminary notification, the central agency all but forgot it. Now, thanks to the Commonwealth Games and more importantly, its location, a small Tughlaq era monument, called Phoota Gumbad, is getting a facelift.

Delhi’s State Archaeological Department has recently started work on the monument, situated to the south west of the Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium, the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies for the Games, among other events.

Earlier, a team of the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) had given approval for the stadium’s renovation work. Sources said the DUAC observations were very clear, “It (the tomb) must be retained and integrated with the stadium design. There should be no damage to the monument.”

Fortunately, there has been no damage to the structure of the monument but it presents a very odd site, ensconced as it is between the strong iron girders of the renovated Stadium.

The ASI had issued the preliminary notification for the monument in March 2004, along with two other structures within the JLN Stadium premises, one on the north west side called Kala Gumbad and the other, on the south west side, without a name.

The agency brought out the final notification for a 16 faced unknown tomb in December 2004 but the same was not done for the remaining two tombs.

“Till the time a final notification is issued, it is understood that the monument is under the state archaeology department,” said ASI spokesperson Dr B R Mani. He, however, did not give any reasons for not issuing the final notification.

The State Archaeology Department’s Jaspal Singh said, “The conservation work could not have been taken up before the civil work for the stadium was completed. Now that it is complete, we have started the conservation work and we are confident of completing it in a month’s time.”

CAG report on Commonwealth Games be made public: Delhi BJP

Delhi BJP today demanded that a CAG report on Commonwealth Games be made public as it would expose the "false" claims of the organising committee regarding the preparedness for the mega sporting event.

"The party demands that the fresh report of the CAG be made public," a press release quoting Delhi BJP President Vijender Gupta said. "This will expose the false claims of the Games Organising Committee," it said.

It also claimed the prime minister was "unsatisfied" with the preparations for the Games and had asked the auditing body to prepare a detailed report.

CAG, in a report in 2009, had expressed concerns over the slow pace of progress of all the projects connected with the Games, the release said.

The Prime Minister's office should make the report public, it added.

All pending work of CWG 2010 will be completed on time: Sheila

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday claimed that all pending work would be completed on time before Commonwealth Games 2010 to be held in the month of October.

Of late, the pending work related to CWG 2010 has drawn wide public attention.

Dikshit, however, looked confident after presiding over the Cabinet meeting of Delhi Government on Monday and reiterated there would be no deviation in deadlines fixed for completion of work.

“No, 31st August is the deadline, that all the work will done. In September, the finishing touches will be given. All the contractors related to electricity, street-scaping… we called for a briefing. We also told them that if they face any problem from any other agency including the police they would be helped; we even requested the police and they have even agreed to it that they will not arrest anybody who is working at nights,” said Sheila Dikshit.

She issued directives to the Public Working Department (PWD) to concentrate on completing works on roads close to the Games Village and to ensure proper street lighting.

“It is absolutely not like that…all those who are involved are getting money on time. This kind of complains must be done by the big contactors only. But, nowhere, we, Raj Kumar Chauhan, Minister in-charge for the PWD (Public Working Department) or our Transport Minister (Arvinder Singh Lovely) or our Welfare Minister (Kiran Walia)…or even our Finance Minister (A K Walia)…all of them have said that shortage of money should not be reason to stop the work. The payment is given to everybody, somebody is saying this thing,” Dikshit added.

She sternly warned the contractors who do not meet the deadline or execute a sub-standard job that they would be blacklisted.

Games effect: Faridabad tightens security measures

In view of the upcoming Commonwealth Games, Delhi’s neighbouring towns too have started strengthening their security measures. The Faridabad administration has tightened its noose around cyber-café, PCO and taxi owners who do not keep records of their customers. “The police commissioner of
Faridabad informed me that  most of the cyber-café and PCO owners  in Faridabad were not keeping records of  their customers,” Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad,  Praveen Kumar told Hindustan Times.

“I took the matter seriously and ordered that owners of cyber-cafes and PCOs have to keep records of the customers with every possible details such as name, address, contact numbers, signatures etc,” he added.

Kumar said under Section 144, keeping such information has been made mandatory for owners of cyber-cafes and PCOs in the entire district.

“Action will be initiated if the order is not complied with immediate effect.  The order has come into force since July 21,” he added.

In another order, the administration has made it mandatory for house owners to get the antecedents of their tenants verified.

Police are also identifying  the localities close to the venue for shooting events during the Games. “I have directed the police  to identify the localities close to the venue for  proper sanitisation,” Anil Kumar Rao, Joint Commissioner of Police, Faridabad said.

25 Metro stations to have information kiosks

Are you new to Delhi and don't know how to get around without seeking help from strangers? Your virtual guide may soon be a touch away, thanks to the Delhi Metro. All necessary information about Delhi, including its culture, history, places of tourist interest, movies and details related to the
Commonwealth Games are going to be available in select underground metro stations within a couple of months.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will install interactive digital information pods (DIPs) in 25 underground metro stations ahead of the Commonwealth Games in October.

The stations where touch screen information kiosks will be installed include Rajiv Chowk, Kashmere Gate, Central Secretariat, Barakhamba Road, INA, AIIMS, JLN Stadium, Vidhan Sabha, Viswavidyalaya, Chandni Chowk, Model Town, Khan Market, Race Course, Jor Bagh, New Delhi, GTB Road, Civil Lines, Chawri Bazar, Malviya Nagar, Hauz Khas, Saket, Udyog Bhawan among others.

“This initiative has been taken keeping in mind the convenience of international tourists who will visit Delhi during the forthcoming Games. However, this value-added service will continue even after the Games,” said Anuj Dayal, DMRC spokesperson.