Rains once again exposed the shoddy work being done at several Commonwealth Games venues in the Capital on Sunday.
The venue for weightlifting at the newly-built, yet incomplete, auditorium in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Complex, was inaugurated by Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy on Sunday.
Rain water leaked through the hyperboloid-double-layered aluminium roof on inauguration day to the embarrassment of the authorities including ministers and the engineers of the CPWD which carried out the construction.
Both Mr. Reddy and Commonwealth Games Special Officer H.S. Kingra explained that the roof was so designed as to allow all the water come down automatically. However, they could not explain why water was dripping in the upper and lower corridors of the auditorium.
The roof apparently was not ready as work was going on in haste till the last minute to prepare the venue for the inauguration. Covers were seen on several areas of the roof to prevent water from going down.
Expectedly, many areas of the auditorium, like the sauna bath facility, some of the toilets, the two-tier underground parking area, the gym and the periphery, were far from being ready. The basement wore the look of a pond because of the rains.
Poor finishing
The linoleum flooring of the main auditorium, with a capacity to accommodate 2100 spectators, was disappointing. The finishing was so poor that it looked like a temporary arrangement. The sheets used for flooring were coming off in several places.
Mr. Reddy was, however, so impressed with the auditorium that he said later it could be used as an “excellent opera house” where one could stage Shakespeare's plays.
The auditorium, built at a cost of Rs. 80 crore, is considered to be the largest in the capital city. It would be used as an opera-cum-convention center in the post-Games period.
A mystery
Why a brand new auditorium for weightlifting had to be built at such a cost for the Games in a city which does have several auditoriums that could have hosted the sport should remain a mystery.
Welcoming constructive criticism from the media, Mr. Reddy said the scribes should refrain from “exaggerating” things. “There should be a celebratory mood, people all over the country are excited (about the Games),” he said.
On the alleged financial irregularities in various activities related to the Games, Mr. Reddy said people responsible for it would not be spared.
Union Sports Minister M.S. Gill, who attended the function, was also disturbed because of negative media reports relating to construction of the stadia. He reiterated that the stadia were “complex state-of-the-art structures” built using “high-level of technology” and these should be appreciated. Like Mr. Reddy, the Sports Minister also requested the media not to focus on smaller issues.
However, he admitted that the complaints regarding the stadia would be looked into. “Rains will be there. Fine-tuning is a must. The CPWD and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) have been asked to depute officers at different venues and take care (of every problem),” he said.
Mr. Gill said the contractors had to redo the work where there was any complaint about quality.
