“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.
