The Organising Committee (OC) was on Monday confronted by concern from within its ranks over alleged corruption charges and the safety of the athletes at the Commonwealth Games.
In separate letters to the OC, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) CEO Mike Hooper and the OC vice-president Randhir Singh have sought certain clarifications following the developments over the last few days.
Mr. Randhir Singh, in a letter to OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi, demanded that a meeting be called immediately to discuss allegations of corruption since the situation was grave.
“In pursuance of the media reports about financial irregularities alleged in the Queen's Baton Relay at the Buckingham Palace, discussion should be held immediately,” Mr. Randhir Singh said.
Safety guarantee
Mr. Hooper has asked the OC to guarantee the safety from various agencies following the startling report of the Chief Technical Examiner's Organisation (CTEO) of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) regarding corruption and substandard construction of various stadia.
“With the Games 61 days away, we have to assure the athletes and officials about the safety of the venues. We deal only with the OC and they have been asked to demand all the required documents from the various agencies — SAI, DDA, CPWD, NDMC and the PWD — who have been handling the construction. We have asked them to ensure the approvals of competent authorities for safety, fire etc. for all the venues,” said Mr. Hooper.
The matter will be taken up in the Executive Board meeting of the Organising Committee scheduled on Friday.
Clarification
The CVC, meanwhile, has clarified that the CTEO report was the first step, and does not, in any way, assume the form of a final CVC report as it is sought to be projected in different quarters. CTEO reports are followed by agency reply, CTEO counter, agency's further reply etc, it said on its website.
The CGF has also sought details about the remedial measures that are being undertaken to rectify the problems that have been surfacing in various arenas.
With limited time on hand, Mr. Hooper said that there were other challenges that needed to be addressed, and that it was important to secure the venues at the earliest, albeit only after all the approvals were given by the competent authority.
Bhanot's assurance
On the subject of sub-standard construction, the OC Secretary-General Lalit Bhanot, however, assured that the venues would be taken over only after the mandatory clearances were given by the venue owners.
“As per the agreement, the OC team has moved in to venues with service managers and others. This exercise will carry on for a few days for bigger venues.
“For small stadia, the venue operations team will take over in a couple of days. Most of the work would be over by August 15. There is no need to panic,” Mr. Bhanot said.
The president of the CGF, Mike Fennell, who had expressed concern in December last year and in March this year, will be arriving in the Capital in two weeks to further intensify the preparations and scrutiny of the Games that has run into trouble on various fronts.
