Thursday, April 8, 2010

‘Commonwealth Games 2010 preprations on track'

Commonwealth Games 2010 preparations are on the right track and are going smoothly. The arrangements for the XIXth Commonwealth Games about to happen in New Delhi this October are in shape, said Jiji Thomson, the Special Director-General of the Organising Committee in Kochi on Monday.

“A soft opening ceremony is scheduled for September 15 and all arrangements will be completed before that,” Thomson said addressing the media on the second day of the National Awareness Campaign. “Work is in full steam and the stadiums are expected to be ready in June.” Admitting that work on two prime venues - the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, slated to host the opening and closing ceremonies apart from the athletics events, and the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Aquatic Complex -- had lagged, he stressed that work had picked up pace in the last six months.

Seventy-one Commonwealth Games Associations from 53 countries are expected to present 8000 athletes and officials for the 12-day event in 17 disciplines.

“The games would leave behind infrastructure good enough for the next 15 years, making Delhi one of the best capital cities in the world,” Thomson said. “The development initiatives, excluding the Indira Gandhi International Airport and the Metro Rail expansions, entail a cost of Rs 2 billion US Dollars.” Allaying safety fears, Thomson said that the government was leaving no stone unturned to provide foolproof security for the biggest ever international sporting event that has come to India. “The government has adopted a zero-tolerance attitude to provide top class security. All countries, which have inspected the security measures, have expressed satisfaction.” The successful conduct of the hockey world cup had proved that the country was safe for big sporting events, he added.

Around one Lakh tourists are expected to descend on the national capital among 22 Lakh spectators. The games is expected to reach a television audience of two billion, Thomson said.

He said that the government was very particular about the opening ceremony being a “never before seen experience”.

The inaugural function would involve 15,000 participants, he added.

Thirty-thousand volunteers, including 150 students from the LNCPE, Thiruvananthpuram, are being trained at the Amity University for the smooth functioning of the first ever Green Commonwealth Games.
“The Sheffield University has also offered volunteers,” Thomson said.

The Organising Committee intended to repay the Rs 2250 crore sanctioned by the Union Government for the conduct of the games through ticketing, sponsorship and merchandising, he said. “Various merchandise related with the games will soon hit the market.”

Gaming News, April 2010

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