‘Quality of CWG swimming complex pathetic’

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: The much-hyped 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games suffered another blow when an executive board member of the International Olympic Committee raised several questions regarding the infrastructure of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Complex, where all the water-sports of the CWG would take place. Taking a dig at the CWG organizers, IOC executive board member Sam Ramaswami said on Friday that the quality of the swimming complex was inferior and he was not sure what would happen to the stadium after the games. “The interiors are not of good quality, the quality of tiles at the swimming pool is below standard,” said Ramaswami. Voicing concern over the overall preparation, Ramaswami pointed out that the condition of the diving platform was so pathetic that organizers were forced to cancel the event. He also lamented that people who are in-charge of the SP Mukhejee Complex were turning blind eyes to his concerns. “I have personally inspected the site and found several loopholes, but no one listens to us,” said a visibly upset Ramaswami. Earlier, under mounting attack for tardy preparations for Commonwealth Games, Delhi Government had admitted delay in several key projects and said works in some of the stadia may not be completed within the final deadline of August 31. Delhi Finance Minister A K Walia, after taking stock of progress of work at Yamuna Sports Complex, one of the key venues of the event, had said government was not satisfied with pace of work at several under-construction stadia. "We are not satisfied with progress of work (in some of the stadiums). They (the construction agencies) are saying all the works will be completed before the deadline. But there are doubts," Walia had said. The minister also admitted that there has been delays in several key projects being implemented by the city government. Delhi government had undertaken projects worth over Rs 10,000 crore to improve infrastructure in the city ahead of the Games. "The agencies concerned are told to complete all the works related to the event by August 31. There are lot of works left to be done. We are facing various difficulties also. We all have to put lot of hard work," Walia, who has been told to regularly monitor progress of various projects, said. 14 stadia are being developed to host the mega event and work on some of them are yet to be completed. Facing lot of criticism for the city`s tardy preparation for the event, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday had threatened to blacklist contractors if they fail to complete works within final deadline of August 31.