New Delhi:
The Commonwealth Games Village in New Delhi opens for the athletes coming for the mega event today.
The teams of several participating countries will start staying there from today. Of the 34 towers in the village, as many as 16 are said to be in an unlivable condition.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today took stock of the maintenance and cleanliness facilities at the complex in the morning.
(Read: Sheila Dikshit, now in charge of CWG Village)With questions being raised over the cleanliness in the Village, Union Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar on Wednesday directed the Delhi Government to take control of the maintenance of the complex which will house the athletes.
(Read: Delhi govt takes over the Games Village)The maintenance of the Games Village was under the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) which is under direct control of Union Urban Development Ministry.
Highly-placed sources told PTI that Chandrasekhar directed the city government to take control of the maintenance and cleanliness of the Games Village from Thursday following criticism by the Commonwealth Games Federation.
Cleanliness and maintenance of the Games Village had come under sharp criticism from foreign participants as well as Commonwealth Games Federation Chief Executive Mike Hooper who described the facility as "filthy and unimaginable".
(Read: Games Village seriously compromised, says Fennell)Concerned over the unhygienic conditions at the Games Village, Commonwealth Games Federation President Michael Fennell had also shot off a letter to Cabinet Secretary just two days ago asking him to take immediate steps to fix the deficiencies in the residential zone of the Village, which he said has "shocked" advance parties from New Zealand, Canada, Scotland and Ireland.
Fennell is making an emergency visit to India today and high on his agenda is a first-hand review of the state of the Village. He has also sought a meeting with the Prime Minister.
(Read:Commonwealth Games' chief rushes to Delhi)
"The final preparations for the Games Village have been of concern to the CGF since viewing the residential zone along with a number of Commonwealth Games Associations advance parties on September 15," Fennel had said in a strongly-worded statement.
But the embarrassed organisers, while promising to sort out all the glitches within the deadline, came out with a bizarre defence that the issue of cleanliness was a matter of difference in perception. (With PTI inputs)