THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The much-awaited 35th National Games, which was earlier slated to be held on December 2012, will be delayed further as infrastructure maintenance and development have been running at a snail’s pace.According to sources in the Sports Department and National Games Secretariat (NSG), the mega sports event is likely to prolong a bit and will commence only by February 2013.Postponements and delays are nothing new to National Games, as the Games was deferred six times last year in Jharkhand citing delay in construction activities and Assembly and local-body elections.The National Games is supposed to be held once in two years, but the schedule has been faltering for the past couple of years. Guwahati games was held five years after the 2002 Hyderabad Games.Though Jharkhand Games was criticised by the media for its bizarre organising, theinfrastructure, which was developed exclusively for the Games, had received appreciation. Infrastructure facility is the biggest challenge to be faced by the sports administrators in the state. “Infrastructure needs to be built. In Jharkhand, the facilities provided to the participants were world-class. Participants will expect the same from here too. But unfortunately, the work has notpicked up momentum,” said a senior bureaucrat, on condition of anonymity. As per the revised schedule, the opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the stadium, to be constructed at Kariavattom here. But the construction of the stadium under DBOT (Design, Build, Operate and Transfer) model is unlikely to complete before the scheduled date.“With the delay in construction of Kariavattom green field, the games will get postponed,” the officer said.Speaking to Express, Sports Council president Padmini Thomas, who is also a member in the governing council of the National Games Secretariat, said that the final date would be announced after the high-level meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday.“Until the meeting with the Chief Minister is not over, the dates cannot be fixed. The construction activities at many venues are proceeding smoothly as calculated. But it is the construction of the sports village and Kariavattom stadium which need to be completed at the earliest,” she said.She also said that there was a slight delay from the part of the officials in kick starting the developmental activities, which in turn resulted in the deadlock.The main factor behind the impasse in the infrastructure development is attributed to lethargy on the part of the consultants who are involved in the renovation of the existing structures.It is said that the Delhi-based consultants, who were entrusted with the task of renovation, including design preparation, estimate drafting and project monitoring, had shown lethargy whichresulted in the delay.It is also said that some of the projects which were left in the middle had notakers since. Officials involved with the organising committee have already been caught off guard, as they do not have in-house designing strength to complete the project.
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