Delhi govt promises clean towers in Games Village by tomorrow

Tasked by the prime minister's office to clean up the mess at the much-criticised Games Village, the Delhi government tonight said it will complete cleaning-up operation in all the 34 towers in the complex by tomorrow morning.

"We have already completed 90% of the work. Everything will be in order by tomorrow morning," a top official of the Delhi government told PTI.

Amid strong criticism by the international delegates who dubbed the Village as "filthy and uninhabitable", PMO on Wednesday night had directed the Delhi government to take control of the complex from Delhi Development Authority.

Yesterday, the city government, taking control of cleaning, house-keeping and overall maintenance of the complex, deployed a workforce of 1,500 people including professionals from five star hotels.

"We were asked by the prime minister's office to take control of the Village and we have already set up a proper mechanism to ensure best possible international standard of hygiene and cleanliness in the Village. We have appointed 80 supervisers from five star hotels to take care of the house-keeping," the official said.

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who spent over six hours today at the Village supervising the cleaning exercise, said the sanitary condition at the residential areas of the Village has improved a lot from the state of affairs a couple of days back.

Dikshit, along with chief secretary Rakesh Mehta and several top officials, personally monitored the clean-up exercise yesterday also at the village.

The city government has appointed 40 DANICS (Delhi, Nicobar and Andaman Island Civil Service) officers in the Games Village to look after maintenance related issues.

"We are confident that all the athletes and officials will be satisfied with all the facilities and services at the Village complex. We are working day and night to complete every thing by tomorrow morning," the official said.

Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell today inspected the Village and said "considerable improvements" have been made.

Earlier at a cabinet meeting, Dikshit made all her cabinet colleagues in-charge of select areas of the capital, directing them to oversee infrastructure preparedness and ensure corrective measures are taken wherever required.