CGF chief gives India a wake-up call

In a wake-up call that the event cannot suffer any more slippages, the Commmonwealth Games chief Michael Fennell today announced the appointment of an independent panel to monitor progress, telling the organisers that "time is your enemy".

After a five-day stay and visits to various venues where construction was on for the next year's Games, he said there was no plan B to shift the Games venue from Delhi but said now "every day is pivotal and every hour vital".

"With two years to go for the Delhi Games, I said to the Organising Committee that time was not their friend. With one year to go, I now say that time is your enemy, but together we can defeat it", he told a press conference here.

Replying to questions, Fennell said the CGF felt that the venues will be ready in time but they cannot afford any more slippages. "We have to stick to the new deadlines."

Fennell, who had last month written a scathing letter to the Organising Committee on the tardy preparations, appeared still concerned.

He said the high-level technical review panel, which will have experts in their respective fields, will meet each month and monitor progress against promise. It will report monthly to all stake-holders, including the prime minister's office and the Delhi government.