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Commonwealth Games chief rushing to India
Source: Agencies |
September 23, 2010, Thursday
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THE Commonwealth Games chief rushed to New Delhi seeking emergency talks with the prime minister over India's chaotic preparations, as two world champion competitors withdrew and England warned that problems with the athletes' village have left the sporting event on a "knife-edge."
No national teams have yet pulled out, but Scotland announced yesterday it will delay its travel to the Indian capital, where the athletes' village - said to be incomplete and soiled with human excrement - was supposed to open today.
Indian officials insisted that facilities would be ready and immaculate for the October 3 games opening despite wide-ranging concerns about unfinished buildings, construction collapses and an outbreak of dengue fever.
The Games, which bring together more than 7,000 athletes from the 71 countries and territories from the former British empire every four years, was supposed to showcase India as an emerging power in the international community. Instead, it has become a major embarrassment.
The city has had seven years to prepare, though very little work was done until 2008. New Delhi has been a frenzy of activity in recent weeks, as it struggles to meet the deadline - only adding to concern that haste could lead to shortcuts in construction of key facilities.
On Tuesday, a 90-meter pedestrian bridge collapsed at the main stadium, injuring 27 construction workers, five critically. Yesterday, part of a drop ceiling at the weightlifting venue collapsed, officials said.
Security is also a concern after the Sunday shooting of two tourists outside one of the city's top attractions. An Islamic militant group took responsibility.
Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell is due to arrive in New Delhi on today, and has requested a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said federation chief executive Mike Hooper.
Hooper said the problems had prompted Fennell to rush to New Delhi far earlier than planned. His emergency trip "emphasizes that this is an important issue and we obviously need to engage at the highest level to get it fixed," Hooper said.
International sports officials have called the games village unfinished, dirty, hobbled by numerous infrastructure problems and even "unsafe and unfit for human habitation."
"It's just filthy. ... It hasn't been cleaned," said Hooper.
No national teams have yet pulled out, but Scotland announced yesterday it will delay its travel to the Indian capital, where the athletes' village - said to be incomplete and soiled with human excrement - was supposed to open today.
Indian officials insisted that facilities would be ready and immaculate for the October 3 games opening despite wide-ranging concerns about unfinished buildings, construction collapses and an outbreak of dengue fever.
The Games, which bring together more than 7,000 athletes from the 71 countries and territories from the former British empire every four years, was supposed to showcase India as an emerging power in the international community. Instead, it has become a major embarrassment.
The city has had seven years to prepare, though very little work was done until 2008. New Delhi has been a frenzy of activity in recent weeks, as it struggles to meet the deadline - only adding to concern that haste could lead to shortcuts in construction of key facilities.
On Tuesday, a 90-meter pedestrian bridge collapsed at the main stadium, injuring 27 construction workers, five critically. Yesterday, part of a drop ceiling at the weightlifting venue collapsed, officials said.
Security is also a concern after the Sunday shooting of two tourists outside one of the city's top attractions. An Islamic militant group took responsibility.
Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell is due to arrive in New Delhi on today, and has requested a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said federation chief executive Mike Hooper.
Hooper said the problems had prompted Fennell to rush to New Delhi far earlier than planned. His emergency trip "emphasizes that this is an important issue and we obviously need to engage at the highest level to get it fixed," Hooper said.
International sports officials have called the games village unfinished, dirty, hobbled by numerous infrastructure problems and even "unsafe and unfit for human habitation."
"It's just filthy. ... It hasn't been cleaned," said Hooper.
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