Friday, July 16, 2010

We are Fed Up of Debris and Delhi CM too

A day after a heavy downpour plunged the city which is to host the Commonwealth Games in less than three months into complete chaos, chief minister Sheila Dikshit visited various project sites on Tuesday and asked the agencies involved to remove all construction material and debris by August 10. Expressing concern over the extensive water logging in the city on Monday evening, she said the ongoing construction activities by PWD, MCD, NDMC and DMRC had aggravated the problem.

The CM underlined the urgent need for maintenance and upkeep of roads at a meeting held at the secretariat. It was attended by PWD minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, chief secretary Rakesh Mehta, principal secretary to the chief minister P K Tripathi, principal secretary (PWD) K K Sharma and senior officials from the Union urban development ministry, MCD, NDMC, PWD and DMRC.

Chauhan was out with his officials all of Tuesday to check if the debris was being removed or not. That, however, seems to be a Herculean task as the entire city seems to be caught in the throes of an epidemic of digging without any method to the madness.

Games venues crumble under heavy downpour

Monday’s heavy rain not only led to water logging in the city but also caused damage at Commonwealth Games sites as well.

The false ceiling of the Yamuna Sports Complex (YSC), Vivek Vihar, collapsed damaging sports equipment and furniture in the stadium which is being prepared for table tennis and archery events. In another incident, water gushed in to the Siri Fort Sports Complex (SFSC) through a gaping hole in the ceiling which was being repaired on Monday night.

Due to the heavy rain, water accumulated on the roof and the false ceiling at the YSC collapsed. Ironically, the roof is supposed to be the highlight of the stadium. This is the same Commonwealth Games venue which has been missing deadlines after deadlines because of the complex nature of the roof structure. The authorities have rebuild the stadium with the roof as the focal point and a huge amount of money has been spent for making the roof.

Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials, however, refused to comment on the matter.

The SFSC also got filled up with water after the downpour, with DDA officials claiming that it was due to an under-construction roof. According to DDA officials, workers were fixing pipes on the roof when the rain came and due to the gaping hole on the roof the water entered into the stadium. DDA officials said there was no damage to property nor anyone was hurt in the incident.

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