By IANS
New Delhi : Almost four years after being awarded – and with a little over three years to go – organisers of host city Delhi held the first big meeting here Friday to give the 2010 Commonwealth Games preparations a definitive course.
All the agencies involved with the organisation of the mega event, including the Delhi government, administration and police, gathered to discuss the preparations, which are currently going on at a snail's pace.
The site of the Games Village, which is so important to the hosting of games, is mired in controversy, let alone construction starting soon.
It is not clear what decisions Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Lt. Governor Tejendra Khanna and Police Commissioner K.K. Paul, who all attended the meeting, took on this and other issues.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi, however, seemed satisfied with the deliberations.
"I would describe it as a fruitful meeting," Kalmadi told IANS.
"It was good because both Sheila Dikshit and cabinet secretary (K.M. Chandrasekhar) came to meeting for the first time," he said.
Kalmadi informed that Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer, who is against the games per se, was not present at the meeting, nor was a representative of the human resource ministry.
The organisers have assured that all the facilities for the quadrennial event would be in place by November 2009.
The Games are to be held from Oct 3-14, 2010.
Delhi was awarded the Games after they defeated Hamilton (New Zealand) 46-22 in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in November 2003.
India will be the second Asian country after Malaysia to host the Games that is expected to attract around 5,500 athletes from 71 countries.