Commonwealth Games 2010: Delhi Chief Minister warns contractors who delay projects in Delhi

New Delhi: Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit has warned the contractors of the Commonwealth Games whose projects are getting delayed that they will not only be blacklisted but also will face ‘‘other contractual actions.’’

At a function got up to mark the completion of 11 years of the Congress-ruled government in Delhi, Sheila Dikshit stressed that “we cannot afford to let down our country” and that “we are committed to making the Delhi Commonwealth Games a grand success.”

The government of Delhi, the Chief Minister warned, will not entertain any “excuses” for delay in completion of the projects for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi in 2010.

One day before she issued this warning to the erring contractors, Sheila Dikshit had expressed “nervousness” about the sluggish pace of the Commonwealth Games-related projects.

According to senior officials of the Delhi administration, with only 9 months to go for the Commonwealth Games, there are serious doubts about whether Delhi would be able to host the mega-event or not. They also feel that the Chief Minister’s “threat” of blacklisting the erring contractors has come late.

The officials say that, since a number of projects had been delayed at the stage of planning itself, “blacklisting” is not a solution.

Among the delayed projects, the government officials cited the examples of the Chhatrasal Stadium, the Ring Road bypass, and the Barapullah Nullah Road – all of which have missed the deadlines owing to the confusion regarding parking. Those guilty of these missed deadline, the officials have been reported as saying, are in the Delhi government’s own departments or agencies like the Municipal Corporation Of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC).

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also announced that the river Yamuna will be cleaned up, adding that the work will start in a year and that there are sufficient funds for the cleaning-up project. However, the river will not be cleaned up before the Commonwealth Games.

Following the most recent review conducted by international experts of the Commonwealth Games Federation, while the officials said they were happy with the overall progress of the preparations, they had voiced concerns over the deadlines of the games projects being extended continuously.

The officials of the Commonwealth Games Federation had said that the construction of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (JNS) – which is the main venue for the Games – is going on at a slow pace. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which had been planned to be completed by December 31, 2009, has its deadline extended to the end of June 2010.

The construction of the S P Mukherjee Swimming Complex also has been delayed, and so the deadline has been extended yet again.

The Group of Ministers (GoM) as well as the core committee overseeing the completion of the projects for the Commonwealth Games met the other day to review the preparations.

After the meeting, M S Gill, Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, told reporters that he is “satisfied” with the pace of the work of the various projects, adding that he hoped all the work would be completed on time.