Commonwealth Games organisers are running from pillar to post seeking approval to fly choppers over restricted zones for TV coverage of the two upcoming road events prompting Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell today to lay the blame for the predicament on their “inexperience.”
At his customary morning press briefing Mr. Fennell said the Federation has concerns over the issue though OC secretary- general Lalit Bhanot assured that TV coverage from air would be possible with Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar informed of the matter.
“Getting clearance for helicopters should have been done before. There was no clear understanding how important coverage from air is for such events. This could be put down to inexperience in terms of hosting events like this,” Mr. Fennell said.
There is a no-fly zone over the heart of national capital as it houses Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, Prime Minister’s residence and many other vital installations and the events are to be held on Sunday (road cycling) and on October 14 (marathon).
“Anyway planning should have been done before,” Mr. Fennell said while Mr. Bhanot added that Mr. Chandrasekhar is chairing a meeting on Friday to sort out the issue.
The CGF chief said the host broadcaster (Doordarshan) is obliged to provide aerial shots of the two road events.
On a non-sport point of view, Mr. Fennell said the aerial shots of Delhi will be a “scenic appearance” and its broadcast all over the world would be a “fantastic” promotion of the city.
Mr. Fennell pointed out that helicopter coverage is a norm for international events. “There are no-fly zones in all cities. We respect that. What is done today is that OC is seeking to get approval for TV helicopters to fly.”
