Cabinet secretary, Lt governor review Delhi's preparedness for C'Wealth Games

Amid renewed spotlight over Delhi's ill preparations for the Commonwealth Games, Union cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar and Lt governor Tejindra Khanna today reviewed the overall preparedness of the city for the mega-event beginning October 3.

The meeting, which took stock of the progress of various unfinished projects, also deliberated on the shortcomings pointed out by Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennell about the Games village, top officials said.

Fennell has asked the government to take immediate steps to fix the condition of Games Village's residential zone, which according to him, has "shocked" many contingents.

In a statement, Fennell said he had written to the cabinet secretary and requested him to take urgent steps before the first batch of athletes arrive on Thursday.

CGF chief executive Mike Hooper also echoed similar sentiments and termed the Athletes village as "filthy and uninhabitable". He, however, hoped that with Fennell's intervention, the mess would be sorted out in the next two days.

The meeting also deliberated on readiness of the Games Village to receive the athletes, they said.

The cabinet secretary, who is also looking after the preparations, earlier in the day visited various Games venues and the Games Village and believed to have directed the authorities concerned to address the issues raised by Fennel.

In a major embarrassment for organisers, an under-construction foot overbridge also collapsed outside the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, the main venue of the Commonwealth Games, injuring 23 labourers.