Snake found in athletes' residential block in C'Wealth Games village

First there were dogs. Now it is a snake.

On a day which could have been the biggest advertisement for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) Village, with the English contingent declaring they will be shifting to the Village in batches, the South African delegation reported spotting a serpent in one of their rooms.

South African high commissioner Harris Mbulelo Majeka said the English certificate wasn’t enough for them to be “impressed with the Village”.

“Only yesterday (Friday), we found a snake in one of our rooms. We don’t know whether it was an Indian snake. It certainly is a threat to our athletes’ lives,” he said. “There’s dampness all around, the basement is still filled with water. We are yet to decide whether to shift to the Village at all.”

This came barely a couple of hours after England’s chef de mission Craig Hunter declared that his contingent was satisfied with the “hygiene of the Village”.

The CWG Federation’s office stayed non-committal about the incident, though sarcastic whispers went around. Someone from CEO Mike Hooper’s office said: “You know it better. We knew there were dogs. But there are snakes too!” And everyone burst into laughter.

The organising committee (OC) tried to play down the presence of the snake, but didn’t rule it out completely. An official said: “There has been so much spraying around to prevent dengue and other diseases. There’s so much flood water around the Village. A snake doesn’t surprise me at all.

“The Yamuna bank is known to be the home of some poisonous snakes. I am just praying at the moment.”  

In any case, Majeka did confirm South Africa’s participation, even as Australian cyclist Travis Meyer, paddler Stephaine Sang and Scottish tennis player Elena Balatcha pulled out citing health concerns.

Delhi health minister Kiran Walia, however, ruled out any health hazard in the Village. “There was stagnant water at the basement of some towers. We even spotted larvae. But the water has been drained out and we have sprayed to prevent dengue,” she said. “We haven’t taken any chance with the flood water either.”

Come what may, with just six days to go, the Village isn’t ready. Delhi chief minister Shiela Dixit set another deadline -- of 72 hours -- for everything to fall in line. This was the umpteenth deadline concerning the Village. Over 1,000 rooms are still uninhabitable.

Overall, nearly 1,100 athletes from Kenya, Nigeria and Scotland have checked-into the Village.

The OC official said on a lighter note: “We have kicked out the dogs. Now we have to wear knee-high boots to prevent snake-bites. I hope there aren’t any ghosts in the Village!”