Army called in to complete Games work

With barely five days to go for the Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010, the country has turned to the Indian Army to help salvage the situation.

About 80 army personnel from the Military Engineering Services (MES) have been deployed at the Games Village and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to complete the electrical and plumbing work.

The Army has also been entrusted with the opening and closing ceremony of the Games that will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The work at the Village and the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium is being done in three shifts. The Army is in charge of one of the shifts. This is not the first time that the army has come to the rescue of an event of this scale. The Army was present in the 1982 Asian Games and the 1999 Afro-Asian Games as well.

A senior official in the Organising Committee said, “The resources we had were not adequate and we did not estimate that there would be so much delay. The army is helping in meeting the requirements.”

Besides, the army is also handling the security. According to government sources, the army has been alerted for a possible terror threat during the Games.

Jawans were recently called in to rebuild the foot over-bridge near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium that had collapsed. The bridge which was supposed to be used by spectators to reach the stadium was re-built by them in 48 hours. A Bailey bridge, which is a temporary structure used for relief operations like flood or collapsed bridges, was built by the Army on the request of the Organising Committee.

It is not just the Indian Army that has been pressed to complete the work and meet security requirements. Sources in the security establishments said choppers of the Air Force are on standby to provide aerial security cover to the Games Village and Jawaharlal Nehru stadium during the opening and closing ceremonies.

The Organising Committee had asked for 200 army officials and 400 Junior Commissioned Officers to be present at the venues and police headquarters. Overall, 1,600 army personnel were sought by the Organising Committee.