By IANS,
New Delhi : Hoping fervently for the incessant rains to stop, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has expressed confidence that Delhi would host a “good Games” even as several Commonwealth Games projects are still incomplete with just 36 days left for the mega event.
“We are working round the clock. The moment rain stops, they (labourers) will start their work… I would not hope for a postponement. I am confident we will give you good Games,” Dikshit told Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN’s “Devil’s Advocate” programme.
However, she hoped that the rains would stop on time, adding: “If it does not stop, then I can only pray and request the whole city and the country to pray. But, we will do it.”
Commenting on the dug up roads and mounds of construction debris across the city, the chief minister blamed “over-ambitious” agencies for it.
“The agencies were very ambitious, over-ambitious,” Dikshit said, and also blamed the rains for slowing down the work.
Over 20 agencies are involved in the city’s beautification and Games-related projects, often working without coordination. This led to setting up of the Group of Ministers and other mechanisms to speed up the work for the Oct 3-14 Games.
Dikshit as chief minister of the host city has become spokesperson for the mega event.
At a function Friday, she had refused to give another deadline for completion of the unfinished projects, saying that the work will be completed before Oct 3, or 15 days before it, provided the sun shines and the rains stop.
Asked about the frequent water-logging and traffic jams due to incessant rains in Delhi, the chief minister blamed it on the “terrible” problem of multiplicity of authorities and lack of coordination among them.
Regarding security, she assured that fool-proof arrangements have been made and more than 40,000 well-trained cops will be deployed during the Games.
To a question on removal of debris from the city roads, the deadline for which was fixed at Aug 10, she said it will now be cleared by Sep 10.
“We had a deadline, but the building work is going on, works are going on and I would like to tell you that we have already cleared 100 thousand metric tons of ‘malba’,” she added.
On the traffic situation during the event, the chief minister said: “What I am saying is if I have to go out shopping or some where, I will postpone it for a little later. Players will go at a certain time, priority is going to be the players. They are our guests.”