Allaying fears of delay in preparation for the Commonwealth Games 2010, Government today assured Rajya Sabha that all state-of-the-art stadia and infrastructure will be completed in time and security steps taken to ensure that the mega event is incident-free.
"The stadia will be completed in time. The Government is investing substantial amounts for upgradation of various stadia to be used for the games. These stadia will become state-of-the-art venues of international standard," Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports M S Gill said.
In a statement on the Calling Attention on the preparation for Commonwealth Games, he said that the financial sanctions for all the stadia, estimated to cost around Rs 4,100 crore, have been accorded and "work is progressing at a rapid pace".
He said work on three stadia -- Dr SPM Swimming Complex, Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range and the Cycling Velodrome -- had a delayed start owing to design issues.
The Group of Ministers, constituted for the Games, are reviewing the progress every week, Gill said.
The Minister said the Ministry of Urban Development is closely monitoring the work being done at the Games Village being developed near Akshardham Temple by the Delhi Development Authority on Public-Private-Partnership model. "The work is well on schedule and will be completed in time", he said.
Noting that the security during the games is a matter of utmost importance, Gill said the Home Ministry and Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna are closely monitoring all arrangements for the event in which around 8,000 sportspersons from 71 nations would participate in 17 sports disciplines.
"An Empowered Security Committee headed by the Home Secretary regularly reviews the security schemes and arrangements for the games," he said.
A comprehensive security plan has been drawn up which would include Venue Emergency Management Plan, Disaster Recovery Plan, Transport Security Plan, Airspace Surveillance and Protection Plan, he said.
"A fully integrated Venue Surveillance Scheme is being developed along with a Secure Security Communications System," Gill said adding that government is taking all necessary steps to ensure that the games are "completely incident-free and are conducted in a safe and secure environment."
Gill said in order to improve the performance of 1,064 core athletes in the country, government for the first time has approved a Rs 678 crore scheme for their comprehensive training and coaching.
Taking into account the current availability of hotel rooms in the national capital region, an additional requirement of 30,000 rooms has been estimated by the Tourism Ministry, he said adding guest houses are being upgraded for the purpose.
A Task Force under the Tourism Secretary is monitoring the availability of hotel accommodation, he said.
Gill said that Prasar Bharti, which has been designated as the host broadcaster, will use latest technology for the games. "For the first time in the history of the Commonwealth Games, the entire transmission will be in High Definition TV (HDTV) format", he said.