With mounting fears of safety issues surrounding the Commonwealth Games, Australia is sending a team of top cops to New Delhi to provide a high-level security cordon for its athletes.
According to a report in 'Herald Sun' today, it has been learnt that about 15 Australian Federal Police officers will provide a high-level security cordon in Delhi - though unarmed - after Sunday's tourist shooting.
The report qouted sources as saying that Government was concerned about athletes' families and fans and were asking them to register on a travellers' website smartraveller.gov.Au and take out travel insurance.
It also said that the Australian government was also preparing contingency plans to evacuate Australians struck down by dengue fever, a terrorist attack or caught in a monsoon.
The report said Australian High Commission in Delhi had already warned Canberra several weeks ago of concerns over the state of the main stadium and other key facilities.
In response to inquiries, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said, "Our High Commission in New Delhi is in daily contact with (DFAT) in Canberra on all aspects of the Commonwealth Games preparations including on issues relating to security and safety. DFAT is providing daily updates to its travel advisory service for Delhi with the risk currently at mid-level. But that could be upgraded as the games draw nearer.
Sandy Gordon, an expert in Indian politics and security at the Australian National University, said there might be a danger that to protect its trade ties between India, Australia may downgraded the security fears of its athletes. But Sports Minister Mark Arbib said Government is solely concerned about protecting Australian athletes and officials - rather than boosting its economic relationship with India.
"There is no tightrope for us. The No. 1 priority for the Australian Government is the safety and security of our athletes and supporters," Arbib said.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said he hoped the games would go ahead and Australia would be there.
"If there were big pull-outs from these Games, it would appear to give terrorism a win," he said.
Several athletes have pulled out of the Commonwealth Games, including Olympic sprinter Usian Bolt. Austalians Dani Samuels and Britain's Phillips Idowu also skipped the event citing security reasons.
Arbib said Indian authorities had given venue safety certification documents to the
Commonwealth Games Federation.
"The Indian authorities are, my understanding is, directing extra resources to ensure the
village is completed as quickly as possible," he said.
Meanwhile, Australian medics were also on their way to India to assess the Commonwealth
Games' hygiene standards as well, "so we will have a better understanding of some of the
medical issues and the hygiene issues after they arrive".
Arbib confirmed that a contingent of Australian Federal Police officers would attend the
Games in a liaison capacity.
However, security will be provided by the Indians, with about 100,000 local police expected
to flood the city.
Arbib said even if the situation in Delhi continued to deteriorate, it was ultimately up to
athletes to decide whether they wanted to compete or not.
"The Australian Commonwealth Games Association and the teams will meet and have
discussions about preparations and about competing," he said.
"But in the end, individuals have to make the decision for themselves.
Today the media reports also mentioned the Federal Government's official travel advisory
on India now warning tourists about potential problems with Commonwealth Games venues,
following the revelation that the engineering company behind the footbridge that collapsed
this week also built steel supports for the main stadium.
There were also serious concerns about the integrity of the building itself given the decision
to refit an existing stadium riddled with concrete cancer.
The Australian lead architect on the netball stadium - the first main Games venue to be
completed - said yesterday he had no concerns over the integrity of that structure, which he
specifically designed with the limited skills of Indian construction workers in mind.
Australian architectural firm Peddle Thorp is behind at least five Commonwealth Games
venues.
Architect Chris Godsell said he could not speak for the integrity of venues Peddle Thorp was
not involved with, adding he was "not at all surprised" to hear of Tuesday's bridge collapse.
"We went there with 21st century ideas and found a workforce still really stuck in the 19th
century," Mr Godsell said.
"You're talking about shapes and forms from the 21st century; you can draw them on a
computer but then you put a computer beside the Indian workforce and you couldn't find
two things further apart.
"They're making a massive leap into the future; you look at Delhi and they're doing 30 to 40
years of infrastructure in three or four.
"They have gone from building three-metre spanning concrete structures to 75-metre
spanning steel structures."