A review of preparations for the Commonwealth Games next year has given a worrying reality check to those in charge of progress. So much so, that the Tourism Ministry has repeated its calls for at least one state government to erect tents to meet accommodation demands.
Tourism Minister Kumari Selja said in a review meeting on Wednesday that just 5,645 hotel rooms are ready, leaving much more work to be done to hit the 30,000 room target before the Games start on October 3, 2010.
This new figure marks a 1,407 room improvement since the last review meeting held in early September. But with close to 25,000 rooms still required, the Government of Haryana has been forced to identify and earmark various sites near the capital that would be appropriate for temporary tented accommodation.
The Ministry has defined rooms in development as either ‘definite’ or ‘likely’. Some 10,268 rooms now fall under the definite category with 1,757 rooms in the likely category.
To help bridge the shortfall, the Ministry also made various other recommendations: (see below)
– The handover to ITDC of 5,500 residential flats, currently operated by the DDA, should be brought forward to between January and May, 2010.
– The Delhi government should market the Bed and Breakfast (B&B) scheme aggressively, to meet the targets for the games. Presently, there are 1,534 B&B units available in the Delhi NCR with a target of 3,000.
– Around 11,000 rooms in Guest Houses in Delhi should be used and the infrastructure upgrades and beautification of the surrounding areas should be quickly undertaken.
– The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports said that 3,250 beds in hostels of educational institutions and University of Delhi are available, pending upgrades.
– The Government of Haryana has identified vacant sites at Surajkund and Hodel for setting up tented accommodation, and will earmark suitable land for tented accommodation at Badhkal Lake. The Hotel Associations and others have been asked to come up with proposals for temporary tented accommodation on these lands. They can directly contact the State Tourism Department for this purpose.
– It was also proposed that completed hotel projects should obtain completion certificate and necessary licenses / clearances and become operational as early as possible. The Minister has requested the concerned state governments to expedite the process of issuing necessary completion certificates/required licenses to the hotels.
– Finally, a final completion date of all projects was recommended: June 30, 2010.
