Thaindian News

New Delhi, Aug 10 (IANS) As Delhi Tuesday missed a crucial deadline to clear the city roads of rubble ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit insisted that the debris had been cleaned to a large extent and the remaining would be done soon.
She attributed the deadline miss to the involvement of various agencies in the Games projects which are not under the Delhi government.

Speaking at a function at her residence, Dikshit asked the media to present a “real picture” of the work done by the government in clearing rubble and said debris had been removed to a large extent.

“There is bound to be debris when there is construction of a road or a house or a building. However, we will clean up the rest in time,” she told reporters. The Games will be held from Oct 3-14.

The chief minister said she would hold a review meeting Tuesday on the issue.

A huge amount of rubble is still lying in parts of the capital even though the Aug 10 deadline to clean up the roads ended Tuesday.

Places like Connaught Place, Paharganj and Pandara Road besides areas in and around Shivaji Stadium, Siri Fort and Talkatora Stadium are still waiting for the agencies to remove construction material.

Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta had told reporters Monday that about 80,000 tonnes of debris had been cleared so far. A private agency was engaged for the task after the government found that civic agencies were dumping rubble in each other’s land.