CWG tennis, cycling venues yet to be cleared

With the Commonwealth Games less than a month away, at least two stadia as well as parts of the main sports venue, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, are yet to get completion certificates from civic authorities.

However, eight venues have got occupancy certificates from Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), while the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has given the same to three venues, official sources said.

The MCD is yet to grant completion certificate for R K Khanna Tennis Stadium and the cycling velodrome. While the Corporation has given the structural safety clearance for administrative block and hostel block of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, it is yet to give the same to some other parts of the building, they said.

Officials, however, maintained that the rest of the venues as well as the remaining portion of JLN Stadium will get the clearance "very soon".

"The MCD has granted completion certificates to Karni Singh Shooting Range, Thyagaraj Stadium, Chhatrasal Stadium, the indoor stadium for wrestling among others while NDMC has given clearance to Dhyan Chand Stadium, Talkatora Indoor Stadium and the Swimming Pool Complex," a source said.

The slow pace of work at various stadia for the Games has been a cause of concern for long, though the organisers have claimed that everything will fall in place in time.

Home Minister P Chidambaram had earlier this week admitted that the project works were running behind schedule which led to a delay in security related tasks in the Games venues and the Games Village.

The security overlays in the games clusters will be completed by September 15 and thereafter the Minister will once again review the arrangements, he had said.