Officials fume as Hooper blasts Delhi's 'population hazard' TNN, Sep 27, 2010, 12.42am IST Read more: Officials fume as Hooper blasts Delhi's 'popul

Officials fume as Hooper blasts Delhi's 'population hazard'
TNN, Sep 27, 2010, 12.42am IST


Read more: Officials fume as Hooper blasts Delhi's 'population hazard' - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/commonwealth-games-2010/news/Officials-fume-as-Hooper-blasts-Delhis-population-hazard/articleshow/6632868.cms#ixzz10ftIJQxv


NEW DELHI: Attack appears to be the best form of defence as far as CWG Federation CEO Mike Hooper is concerned. With questions being raised - including by his own countrymen - about what he was doing for so long even as the Games preparations floundered, Hooper sparked off a controversy by lashing out at Delhi's huge population. He also told a Kiwi TV channel that he could not be blamed since he was not a construction engineer or builder.

Hooper later made conciliatory noises, thanking the Indian government for its help and the "Indian people for their massive investment". CWG president Mike Fennell too chipped in, saying he was present at all the meetings and at no stage did Hooper "make any reference to the people of India, let alone disparaging ones".

However, sources confirmed that Hooper's rude remarks came at a closed-door meeting between foreign mission representatives, Delhi government and OC officials where a suggestion for 24-hour dedicated roads for CWG movement - keeping out all other vehicles - was turned down by government officials. Perhaps annoyed by this, Hooper let fly at Delhi's "population hazard".

Senior OC personnel later said that Hooper was being most unreasonable. "Can we just make half the population vanish or keep people indoors," asked an official who pointed out that such a move would rob the Games of any appeal that they still retained.

Police said that complete closure of CWG lanes is not possible. "The city contract for the Games doesn't provide for Games lanes or such closures. We need to facilitate movement of Games traffic which is being done. It will be implemented as per our road conditions and needs," said Ajay Chadha, special commissioner of police (traffic).

The view of some foreign team managements that roads carrying CWG traffic should be completely sanitised was simply unacceptable, feel officials who said security cover has been significantly stepped up after the Jama Masjid incident. They also said such severe restrictions were not the case in other cities which have hosted mega sporting events. Both state government and Delhi Police officials opposed the move. Sources who attended the meeting confirmed Hooper's remark that dedicated lanes were needed in the backdrop of India's population. The meeting wound up soon after.

Delhi traffic police on Sunday said Games lane would be enforced from Monday. From 8am to 8pm, one lane of road space on routes connecting the Games Village to hotels Ashoka and Samrat will be reserved for exclusive movement of Games-related traffic. The affected roads include National Highway-24, Ring Road from Nizamuddin bridge to Barapullah flyover, Fourth Avenue, Lodhi Road, Safdarjung Road, Kamal Ataturk Marg and Panchsheel Marg. The lane segregation will continue till October 16. Normal vehicles entering the dedicated lanes will be prosecuted. The traffic police plans to come down heavily on vehicles found violating lane discipline. Offenders will have to cough out a fine of Rs 2,000 and could also face seizure of their vehicles. On all other stretches, lanes will be closed only when there is movement of athletes.

People have been advised to give way to carcades and police could extend the road blocks in a need-based manner. "Since Monday is a working day, there could be some congestion. People using the affected stretches should leave in advance to make up for delays," said Chadha. On Sunday, 17 people were prosecuted for violating the Games lane under the new provisions and were asked to pay a fine of Rs 2,000.

Hooper also had to face tough questions from foreign media over the federation's role in failing to keep an eye on how badly things were going. Top New Zealand Olympic officials said they were only shown some sample flats a few weeks ago, but Hooper had been in Delhi and should have seen what was happening. They said the federation had a lot to answer for. Interestingly, Hooper is himself from New Zealand.

Hooper sought to deny his and the federation's role by saying, "At the end of the day, I'm not a construction engineer. I'm not a builder. We're at the hands and the mercy of, effectively, the government of India, the Delhi government, the agencies responsible for delivery of the venues."

But Barry Maister, secretary-general of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, which is responsible for the Commonwealth Games team, said the Games Federation "has a lot to answer for" with regard to the state of the athletes' Village. "It was their job to ensure the Village was ready for habitation. In my view, they did not do so," he said after visiting the Village last week. Maister said the New Zealand delegation was shown model towers during previous visits to Delhi and never given access to the actual residential blocks which were dubbed "filthy and uninhabitable" by international delegates.

NZOC president Mike Stanley also said the committee relied on CGF's feedback on the matter. "(CGF chief executive) Mike Hooper has been based in Delhi for some time to oversee these very things. I don't think we were being naive relying on that sort of information to base our judgments on," Stanley said.

"We had full expectation that resources would be applied to the project to get it right and that hasn't happened. It is the organising committee's responsibility to deliver, and the CGF's responsibility to see jobs are ticked off," he added.



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