PC sets deadline for Village, venues

Home Minister P Chidambaram issued the ultimatum to the Organising Committee after a high-level security review meeting.

Chidambaram told the OC to complete all works related to the venues by Friday midnight and all Games Village-related works by Saturday morning to enable the security forces to take them over.

“No further delays will be allowed,” Chidambaram told the OC, according to sources.
The meeting, convened by Chidambaram, was attended by senior officials of the Home Ministry, Delhi Police, other security agencies and the OC.

The meeting was convened in the run up to Prime Minister  Manmohan Singh’s stock-taking meeting with Sports Minister M S Gill and Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy.
The OC would now have to carry out all the pending works, including cleaning up the mess at the Games Village, keeping the deadline in the mind.

Facing problems
The sources said the deadline was issued after the security establishment conveyed that their personnel were facing problems as the venues had not been handed over to them and workers and labourers were still thronging them.

Over a lakh security personnel would be deployed in the capital during the Games.
This would include about 175 companies of paramilitary forces, 3,000 commandos, 100 anti-sabotage teams and 15 bomb disposal squads, apart from 150 Delhi Police’s Special Weapons and Tactics Team personnel tasked to shoot down any suspicious manned and unmanned flying object.

Later, Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal, allaying apprehensions by some participating nations, said his team was capable of providing full security during the event.
DH News Service