New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) The Commonwealth Games Village might have been mired in controversy for months but most of the 1,000-odd athletes and officials who checked in Monday afternoon looked pleased at what they saw.
Leading the cheering brigade was South African High Commissioner Harris Mbulelo Sithembile Majeke, who had created a stir Sunday by saying a snake had been found in an apartment allotted to his country’s athletes. He sang a completely different tune Monday.
‘With only five days to go before the Commonwealth Games begin, we remain optimistic that India will deliver a memorable Games,’ Majeke told reporters here.
On their part, the athletes said they were delighted to see a marked improvement in the conditions at the Village as the cleaning up of the towers continued at a furious pace.
Around 1,100 foreign athletes, officials and media personnel landed in the Indian capital Sunday and 550 more are expected by nightfall Monday.
They are among the 7,000 participants from 71 nations and territories at the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games, India’s largest sporting event after the 1982 Asiad.
As the athletes got a measure of the Village, helicopters hovered overhead as security was tightened on the roads and a fresh alert was issued to the states against terror strikes.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have also been placed on standby to guard against airborne intrusions, a security official told IANS.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit toured the Village Monday in a golf cart to inspect the progress of cleaning up operation. She said all steps are being taken to maintain the Village spic and span.
The first batch from Scotland, who had delayed their arrival, moved into the Village and they looked pleased with the facilities.
‘We are really happy with all the facilities. We are having a good time here. We went to the archery venue and we found lush green field was really nice. The facility is up there with some of the best fields I have seen at the World championships,’ Scottish archer Claudine Jenning told IANS.
The food, she added, was excellent.
Said Mike Summer from the Falkland Islands: ‘I came on Sep 22. At that time the condition was very poor. All the negative media reports were justified at that time. But from there on things have improved a lot. I have checked the accommodation several times and am now satisfied with the progress.
‘There has been progress on a daily basis… However, I don’t know whether the electricity or the plumbing will hold up. I hope it does.’
On the flip side, an unhappy Kenyan camp said it expected more.
‘We came yesterday (Sunday). Our experience has been average,’ a Kenyan delegate complained to IANS.
‘The rooms could have been cleaner…,’ added Ruth Mueni Nzioka, a Kenyan team official.
With preparations beginning in earnest for the Games kicking off Sunday evening, authorities enforced dedicated traffic lanes after forcing over 1,500 Blueline public transport buses off the roads.
‘I am stuck in traffic for the last one hour. I am late for office and my children are late for school too,’ said Sujata Jain, who was caught in traffic on the Ring Road.
Over 1,500 Blueline buses plying on 132 routes were pushed off roads from Sunday till Oct 16 to ease traffic congestion on Delhi roads. These routes pass through central Delhi and near the Games venues.
Consequently, traffic has risen sharply on Delhi Metro.
Though schools in the city will be closed from Oct 1 till the Games end Oct 14, students and commuters will find it tough dealing with traffic jams and fewer public transport buses until then.
The exclusive CWG lanes were operational from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday onwards on certain stretches of Delhi roads.
As the city prepared for the much anticipated event, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed confidence that it would be conducted ‘properly and smoothly’.
‘I am quite confident that the Games will be conducted smoothly, and (the) country will be happy to see (it) being conducted properly and smoothly. And there is no problem in conducting the Games,’ Mukherjee told a Kerala based channel.
In all this, a new question arose: Who will inaugurate the 19th edition of the Games?
Sources in the Organising Committee (OC) said Monday Indian President Pratibha Patil and Britain’s Prince Charles may share the honours in the absence of the Commonwealth head, Queen Elizabeth.
Negotiations are still on between the OC and the Indian and British governments regarding the details, the sources added.
‘OC chief Suresh Kalmadi and Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar will hold discussions soon regarding the inauguration programme. Efforts are on for a solution acceptable to all parties,’ an OC official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
As per protocol, Queen Elizabeth should inaugurate the Games, organised among the countries which comprise the erstwhile British empire.
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, dismissed a petition seeking the removal of Kalmadi as chairman of the Organising Committee.
The petitioner had demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged irregularities in the multi-million rupee deals that were struck for the Games preparations.
