CWG Village: A picture of filth and embarassment

Mtoday news

New Delhi, Sept 23: New pictures released today have revealed the full squalor facing competitors arriving at the Commonwealth Games athletes’ village.

The pictures, taken by a BBC undercover reporter, show dirty bathrooms, exposed electricity cables, bedsheets covered in animal footprints, and flooding in filthy toilets and basins.

 

An advance party of English athletes is due to arrive in Delhi today despite safety and accommodation concerns that could see the team pull out of the crisis-hit Commonwealth Games, which start on October 3.

On Tuesday, 23 people were injured when a footbridge collapsed and yesterday the ceiling of the weightlifting arena fell in.

 

 

Filthy: The bathrooms of the Commonwealth Games village are covered in building dust and mud

Mess: A dirty basin, covered in an unknown substance, in the Commonwealth Games village

Paw effort: Animal footprints can be clearly seen on this bed in the village

The athletes’ village has been condemned as ’unfit for human habitation’ but Indian officials have played down fears the event may not take place.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg warned yesterday ’time was running out’ for the beleaguered organisers.

As officials scrambled to save the showpiece event, the England team described its future as being on a ’knife edge’ and said the next 24 hours would be vital in deciding whether to send its competitors.

The prime minister Manmohan Singh is today holding crisis talks with the head of the Commonwealth Games, Mike Fennell.

So far, four athletes - including three world champions - have said they will not attend because of health or safety concerns. British triple jumper Phillips Idowu is among those who have said they will not appear.

 

New Zealand joins Canada and Scotland in delaying arrival in Delhi. Wales team set to decide today whether they will travel to India. Advance party of English athletes will arrive in Delhi today

 

Child labourers were photographed yesterday installing seats at main stadium and women carted dirt on their heads as the last minute preparations continued.

The build-up to the October 3 opening ceremony has been plagued by construction delays, allegations of corruption, terror threats, monsoons and an outbreak of dengue fever.
There was more bad news for the organisers yesterday when part of the ceiling of the weightlifting arena fell in just 24 hours after a tootbridge - near the Jawaharlal Nehru complex, the centrepiece of the Games - collapsed.

Despite the concerns the first 22 English athletes, members of the bowls and hockey teams, are due to leave today for Delhi on an overnight flight.

Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell is due to arrive in Delhi today, and has requested a crisis meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.