CAG begins quick audit of ongoing Games projects.
Amid fears of attracting international disrepute for delays in execution of projects related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has begun a quick audit of the ongoing projects.
“The auditing watchdog has started audit of the projects, the cost of which could go beyond Rs 9,000 crore. We have obtained the Games masterplan and other documents and hope to complete the audit by May-June,” said a source.
The preliminary inquiry, sources say, indicates that there have been inordinate delays in awarding works, even as several projects are running behind schedule.
The government has already drawn flak from different quarters for delays in projects related to the Games, scheduled from October 3 to 14 next year.
Auditors have taken strong exception to abandoning of projects, poor planning and mismanagement, among other issues, sources say, citing examples of how a project to build an underground tunnel from the Games Village to the sports facilities was abandoned and then plans were made for elevated roads.
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It still remains a million-dollar question as to how such a huge crowd would come out of the residential facilities at the Games Village and reach the venue, as there is only one route, sources say, questioning the preparedness on the infrastructure front.
The organisers of the Games have been asked to submit projectwise details to the auditors.
In addition, the Sports Authority of India, the Ministry of Sports, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Culture, the New Delhi Municipal Council, the Delhi government, the Delhi University and other bodies involved in the event have been asked to provide necessary inputs to auditors.
The audit was necessitated amid fears of compromise in cost and quality of projects, as well as apprehensions that if the government misses the deadline for the completion of the project and the Games Village has to be shifted from the present venue, India may lose the right to organise international sports events in the future.
Earlier, a parliamentary committee had expressed fears that the 2010 Games projects might miss the deadline, as the organisers had yet to initiate action for various schemes. Doubts were also raised over the completion of housing projects for accommodating tourists, players and officials.
he CAG had carried out a similar mid-course review of the UPA government’s flagship schemes, including the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Mid-Day Meal scheme and the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission. It was detected that irregularities at the ground level had led to failure in realising the objectives of many of these schemes.