C'Wealth Games security: Home ministry unhappy with organising committee over glitches

The home ministry is unhappy with the organising committee of the Commonwealth Games as the security authorities are still facing glitches in putting in place a proper security mechanism with only four days to go for the mega sporting event.

The issue came to the fore after OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi and other officials attended a meet chaired by home minister P Chidambaram to take stock of the security and inaugural ceremonies on October 3.

Sources said the security agencies are concerned as a host of issues like lack of information inside electronic card readers have worried the authorities. If such data is not fed into the machines, the guards would have to resort to manual frisking of athletes, officials and other general visitors. 

Sources said the ministry is unhappy with the glitches. 

Issues regarding the improper functioning of boom barriers and security bollards also came up during the meet, the sources said.

The meet was attended by top officials of the home ministry and the OC including Lalit Bhanot and others.

During the meeting, it was also decided that the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium -- host of the gala opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on October 3 -- will be locked down
(sanitised and sealed) on Saturday, a day before the mega event begins.

The rehearsals and preparations will be allowed inside the stadia only till Friday. 

"Rehearsal of the opening ceremony will go on till October one and from October 2 no one will be allowed to go inside the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium and it will be completely locked," Kalmadi told reporters after attending the one-and-a-half  hour-long meet.

"We discussed all security and other aspects. The meeting was cordial. There are a lot of issues that were taken up during the meeting just four days before the opening ceremony...we discussed these issues," Kalmadi said. 

Kalmadi also said that all Games venues were handed over to security agencies including the JLN stadium.     

"There is no issue over the practice of athletes. We are allowing them to practise even on opening day," Kalmadi said after he was asked if there were some problems for the athletes to practise.

"There was definitely a delay in handing over the venues ...these are well established facts... most of the venues we got late... the OC which has to do overlaying and other final touches got delayed in getting the venues... when you get venues late naturally there would be problems," Kalmadi said in an attempt to deflect the responsibility of the delay in transferring the venues to security agencies for complete lockdown.