Two down, seven more to go

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) seems to be faring quite poorly, as far as preparations for the Commonwealth Games are concerned. Though it had taken up nine major projects for the event, the biggest being the Connaught Place facelift, only two — the renovation of Talkatora Stadium and redesigning of bus shelters — have been completed so far.

Here’s an overview of some of the projects taken up by the NDMC.

Gole Market
A much-touted project of the NDMC, the redevelopment of Gole Market is unlikely to be completed before the Games begin. The reason? Legal hassles.When NDMC tried to clear the central building of commercial activity, enraged shopkeepers dragged the civic body to court. The next hearing is slated for August 20. Due to litigation, work on the heritage building has slowed down drastically, and only 9 per cent of the work has been completed till now. When Newsline visited the place on Tuesday, not a single worker could be seen. The only evidence of the ongoing construction work was the building material that lay around the place. Commenting on the current scenario, a shopkeeper said, “Some days workers come, some days they don’t.”

Shivaji Stadium
So far, the NDMC has completed about 72 per cent work on the stadium, which was supposed to be used as a practice venue for hockey. Though the stadium seems to be in a terrible state from outside, with iron rods supporting the seating area and piles of debris standing guard over the structure, the inside view is more promising. While the arena dazzles in granite, the main field has been laid with tar. Only the Astroturf needs to be laid to make the play area complete. The seven-storey building on one side of the ground is also half-constructed. Unlike other places, the mood is unusually positive at this venue. A contractor, on the condition of anonymity, said that they would be able to complete the project before the players start coming. However, the Game Organising Committee has already removed the stadium from its list of practice venues. Though the initial deadline for handing over the Rs 180-crore stadium to the OC was in June, the delay has now pushed it to September. 

Streetlights & toilets
As far as the streetlight replacement project is concerned, only about 70 per cent of the work has been completed. The scenario is similar with the toilet project, with 30 per cent of the proposed lavatories yet to be constructed. The deadlines for the two projects were August and July respectively.

Streetscaping
NDMC has put a lot of effort into streetscaping 10 roads that originate from its two CWG practice and event venues. The roads are Tees January Marg, Sardar Patel Marg, BKS Marg, Mother Teresa Crescent, Mandir Marg, Old R K Ashram Marg, Park Street, Udyan Marg, Brigadier Hoshiyar Singh Marg and Aurbindo Marg.
The Road Improvement Programme (RIP) was launched in 2008. Over the last two years, more than 94 roads have been resurfaced in two phases.
As many as 34 roads would be resurfaced before the Games in phase-III, sources said, adding that all these projects are 84 to 90 per cent complete.

Create a CWG record, win an HP holiday

Shimla: Embarking on an ambitious plan to boost the state’s tourism through the Commonwealth Games, Himachal Pradesh has proposed to offer a one-week official holiday package, including travel and stay, to sports personalities who set new Games records.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal told Newsline that the tourism department will throw its doors open to players who create new world records during the much-awaited event.

“The tourism department will be happy to extend a week’s hospitality to sporting figures who set up new records,” he said.

 The offer comes close on the heels of the tourism department’s plan to launch a new project, Har Gaon Ki Kahani , aimed at marketing rural hill tourism through ancient tales and historical anecdotes.

Ashwani Sharma