ஆத்தாடி டெல்லியின் மானாம் காத்தாட

இன்று கனடாவில் இருந்து வெளிவரும் பல முன்னணிப் பத்திரிகைகளிலும். bbc யிலும் முக்கிய தலைப்புச் செய்தியாக இந்தியாவில் டெல்லியில் நடக்கவிருக்கும் 'கொமன் வெல்த்" (Commonwealth ) விளையாட்டு போட்டி ஏற்பாட்டில் நடக்கும் குளறுபடிகளைப் பற்றியும், விளையாட்டு வீரர்கள் தங்கும் விடுதிகளில் உள்ள பாரியளவிலான குறைபாடுகளைப் பற்றியும் வந்துள்ளது.

கோடிக்கணக்கான ஏழைகளை சுரண்டி, சிறுபான்மைத் தேசிய இனங்களின் குரல்வளையை நெரித்து கொள்ளும் தப்பிப் பிழைக்கும் இந்திய தேசியத்தின் ஊழல் முகம் சர்வதேசம் எங்கும் கிழிபடுகின்றது

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Delhi Games village 'unfit for athletes'

The Commonwealth Games Federation head has demanded the Indian government take immediate steps to improve conditions at the athletes' village in Delhi.

Team delegates have described the accommodation as filthy, unhygienic and unfit for human habitation.

But organisers of the event, which runs from 3 to 14 October, said the facilities would be excellent.

Meanwhile, police said 23 labourers were injured as a bridge being built near the main Games venue collapsed.

It is the latest setback to an event plagued by construction delays, allegations of corruption and a dengue fever outbreak in the Indian capital.

New Zealand, Scotland, Canada and Northern Ireland have demanded their teams be put up in hotels if their accommodation is not ready.

Michael Fennell, the Commonwealth Games Federation president, said he had written to the Indian cabinet secretary urging immediate action.

He said "many issues remain unresolved" and the athletes' village was "seriously compromised".

Although team officials had been impressed with the international zone and main dining area, he continued, they had been "shocked" by the state of the accommodation itself.

"The village is the cornerstone of any Games and the athletes deserve the best possible environment to prepare for their competition," Mr Fennell added.

Indian media is reporting that only 18 of 34 residential towers at the village are complete

Two days before the village officially opens to the first of 7,000 athletes and officials, New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie suggested the Games might even be cancelled.

He said toilets in the accommodation were leaking and did not flush, and there were piles of building debris in bathrooms.

Mr Currie told New Zealand commercial radio on Tuesday: "If the village is not ready and athletes can't come, obviously the implications of that are that it's not going to happen.

"It's pretty grim really and certainly disappointing when you consider the amount of time they had to prepare."

Team Scotland said in a statement that on arrival in Delhi last week their officials found "its allocated accommodation blocks were far from finished and in their view, unsafe and unfit for human habitation".

Commonwealth Games England called for "urgent" work on the facilities, raising concerns about "plumbing, electrical and other operational details".

Australia's chef de mission, retired marathon runner Steve Moneghetti, said in Melbourne the hosts "have got two days to do what's probably going to take about two weeks".

As the row unfolded, 23 construction workers were injured, five seriously, as an elevated footbridge gave way near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, police said.

It is not clear what caused the collapse of the walkway, which was being built to link a car park to the arena, where the Games opening ceremony is to take place.

Delhi government's Chief Secretary, Rakesh Mehta, told Indian TV the bridge was cemented earlier on Tuesday.

Lalit Bhanot, secretary general of the organising committee, said in a news conference that the athletes' accommodation needed a "deep cleaning", but everything would be ready on time

According to us the room may be clean, but the foreign officials may require a certain standard of cleanliness and hygiene which may differ from our standards," he said.

"We are on the job and everyone is working day and night."

He added: "All other things and all other venues are ready and in the best of condition to conduct these events."

There have also been safety concerns surrounding the Games, heightened on the weekend when gunmen shot and wounded two tourists near Delhi's Jama Masjid, one of India's biggest mosques.

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Analysis

Sanjoy Majumder

BBC News, Delhi

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The Games village - made up of several blocks of high-rise luxury flats for the athletes who are due to begin arriving on Friday - was meant to be the event's showpiece.

The chief of the organising committee, Suresh Kalmadi, had said it would be better than the village at the Beijing Olympics.

Now his words are coming back to haunt him. Advance teams have described the state of the flats as shocking.

The village itself has been built on the banks of the Yamuna river. Just outside it are pools of green, stagnant water left over from flooding after Delhi's worst monsoon in three decades.

It's a breeding ground for mosquitoes and has raised fears of disease - there have been nearly 100 cases of dengue fever over the past month.

The organisers now certainly have their work cut out

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www.bbc.co.uk

அதிலும் ஒரு இந்திய அதிகாரி சொல்லியிருக்கிறார் இப்படி: " நாங்கள் தங்கும் விடுதியை எங்கள் நாட்டுத் தராதரத்தின் படி சுத்தமாகத் தான் வைச்சிருக்கிறம், ஆனா வந்து பார்த்த வெளிநாட்டுக் காரர்களுக்கு அந்தச் சுத்தம் அவர்களுடைய தராதரப் படி இல்லைப் போல இருக்கு. திரும்பவும் நல்லா சுத்தம் செய்யப் போறம்"

கக்கூசைக் கூட சுத்தமா வைச்சிருக்கத் தெரியாத காட்டான்களுக்கு ஏன் தான் இந்த சர்வ தேச நிகழ்ச்சிகள் நடத்துற ஆசை? சீனாவைப் பார்த்து கொஞ்சம் கூடத் தான் ஆட வெளிக்கிட்டுது இந்திய மயில்!