CM unsure of meeting Aug 31 deadline for CWG-related work

New Delhi, Jul 30 (UNI) With just two months left for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, the Chief Minister is still not sure about the completion of work on time.

Referring to the deadline of August 31 for the completion of the Games related projects, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said it could be shifted further by around a week.

''There are chances of overlapping of work by seven to eight days after August 31 and so the time needed by the agencies will be given,'' she told mediapersons.

In addition, she said the work on Shivaji Stadium, which will be used as a training venue for hockey, is also unlikely to be completed till the Games start. ''Since it is a practice stadium, so it is not going to harm the Games,'' Ms Dikshit said.

The stadium was supposed to have been ready by June 30, according to New Delhi Municipal Council's (NDMC) own deadline.

However, the Chief Minister claimed that all the works were going on time and will hopefully be completed before September. ''All the finishing touches and small left overs will be done in September,'' she said.

To a query regarding inconvenience being caused to the locals due to the Games-related work and the unclean look the national capital is bearing, Ms Dikshit said in such situation when so many mega projects were being carried out simultaneously, it was quite natural that during the execution the city was giving an unkempt look. ''It is just a matter of few days...We have been taking weekly monitoring of all agencies involved in construction and also ensuring their coordination,'' she said.

The Chief Minister said that 16000 tonnes of major debris has already been cleared by the agencies till now. ''All the rest, consisting of major quantity, will surely be
cleared by August 10. Whatever small ones which will be left, we will see what could be done for it,'' she said.

She added that the work of street-scaping having a large component of horticultural development along the roads was planned in a manner so as to make the plantation component coincide with the monsoon.