Hygiene issue at Village to be sorted out in 36 hours: Mattoo

New Delhi: Commonwealth Games Organising Committee treasurer A K Mattoo admitted that there are concerns about hygiene and cleanliness at the Games Village but promised to sort out all the mess within the next 36 hours.

Mattoo said there was no cause for worry as OC officials are working round the clock to take care of any problem and the athletes will have no complaints during their stay in the Village. "We are sorry for the inconvenience. What has happened, perhaps the level of cleanliness was not adhered to or not provided. But it`s a huge area known to various people and there could have been certain shortcomings. We ensure you that we will make up for any deficiency that exists within the next two days," Mattoo said. "I have led this country on a number of occasions as a chef-de-mission and I`m aware of the expectations of a contingent. So these are things which need to be looked into. OC has taken due care to address all the issues connected with the upkeep of the Village," Mattoo told reporters. The organisers of the Games today came under scathing criticism from the Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell who called the Athletes` Village "filthy and unlivable" and bluntly told them to sort out the mess within 24 hours. Mattoo said the organisers had set September 23 as the deadline for the Games Village and the arena will be ready in the next 36 hours. "Give us two days, hopefully it doesn`t rain further, we should be in a position to say that satisfaction level of the athletes have been fully met," he said. Minister of State for Urban Development, Saugata Roy, said that there have been too many lapses in the preparation for the Games and the responsibility lies with the empowered Group of Ministers (GoM), formed to take all necessary decisions for the smooth conduct of the event."There have been too many lapses. These incidents (collapse of foot over bridge), this unpreparedness (filthy and unlivable Games Village) speak ills of the country. Empowered GoM do have to share responsibility for all this. They were meeting every week and did nothing much. NDMC is liable for foot over bridge collapse, DDA is responsible if Games Village is not ready," Roy said. "There have been faults, lapses because work on Commonwealth Games started very late. It started only in 2008 and we were awarded the Games way back in 2003," Roy added. PTI