Boasting to Complete Projects on time, Archery venue just 31% complete

Not ready to accept the tall claims made by the Delhi government, Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee (CWGOC) member Vijay Kumar Malhotra today raised serious concerns about the timely completion of the venues and said the Archery venue was lagging way behind the schedule.

Malhotra, who is also the President of Archery Association of India, blamed the slow pace of work that has been going in the Capital for the shifting of Asian Grand Prix archery tournament to Kolkata.

He claimed that the Organizing Committee and the Delhi government may well be able to wrap-up most of the work by the end of this year but its quality will always remain under suspicion.

''By now everything should have been ready and our players should have been practicing at the venues but the pace at which the work has been going has denied our players the home advantage,'' said Malhotra.

''The Asian Grand Prix, which concluded this month, should have been held in the Capital and we had little options but to shift the venue to Kolkata,'' he rued.

He further pointed out that the Archery venue for the Commonwealth Games was way behind the schedule, with only 31 per cent of the work has been completed.

Malhotra was worried that his Association may have to compromise on various issues during the Commonwealth Championships in March next year, which will be the test event for the Games.

''I visited the venue yesterday and it's nowhere near completion with just 31 per cent of the venue ready.

''Archery does not need lot of infrastructure but if even that can not be provided to us then it's something that we must look at.'' Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was under the scrutiny from Malhotra who raised serious questions on her commitment for the project work of the Games.

"The may pick up the pace at this point of time but it will open opportunities of corruption in the system and the quality will also be under suspicion."

The Prime Minister has said it is a matter of national pride and he is absolutely right. Rather than making such false commitments, the project work for the venues and the city as whole should have begun and finished on time.

"We should have been ready by this time and the delay is just denying our players the home advantage," he claimed.