CWG flats face watery grave?

A sting operation reveals the Yamuna is pouring into tower number 22 at the commonwealth Games Village through a 10-ft long crack in its foundation

CWG flats face watery grave?

A sting operation reveals the Yamuna is pouring into tower number 22 at the commonwealth Games Village through a 10-ft long crack in its foundation

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Even as the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee is trying desperately to put its house in order, a sting operation conducted by MiD DAY has revealed yet another aspect of all that was wrong with the putting together of the grand sporting event held in the Capital last October.

Our undercover reporter discovered that the basements of the Games Village flats, that are worth several crores each, are waterlogged.

Washed up? (Above) A file photo of the Games Village flats that are
now suffering from problems of waterlogging as revealed by a MiD DAY
sting operation at tower number 22. Pics/Mid Day

On December 27, MiD DAY found the surrounds isolated. Only some dogs that also came into limelight during the controversies over the Games were breaking the grim silence in the compound. The reporter moved towards tower number 22 at the CWG village. The area seemed clean and the entry doors were locked.

All wet
As our reporter walked into the basement of the structure, he found a lot of water collected on the floor. But the source who led us into the building said the conditions were a lot worse than they appeared at first glance. The source told MiD DAY that there is a perennial problem of waterlogging in the basement of all the buildings.
After a few steps the reporter found a 10-ft long crack in the floor of the basement.

Water was pouring out of the crack and was spilling into the entire basement. The source confirmed that the fissure has been there for a long time and water continuously comes out of it. He also confirmed that there was no pipeline fault inside. The reporter walked into the interiors of the basement and found that the whole area was filled up with water varying from 1 to 5 inches in depth.

Go with the flow?
As the buildings are isolated, naturally no one was around to take care of the maintenance aspect. The reporter found that water was flowing into the basement but there was no way for its exit. T

he basement is almost 15 feet below the ground level and walls and pillars of the basement were damp because of the water. There are 34 towers in the area and the source confirmed that the basements of all the buildings are waterlogged. The buildings created controversy because experts had said that erecting them on the Yamuna riverbed wasn't a good idea.

When MiD DAY contacted an engineer, who had worked on the construction of the Games Village, he said: "As the project is on riverbed, the load bearing capacity (LBC) of soil was very poor. That's why they used piled foundation to enhance the LBC. Seepage is coming from the lowest point. As the pile is on the same level as that of sub soil, water level rusting in steel is quiet common which will definitely reduce the life span of the building. But it is certain the building won't fall suddenly like the Lalita Park incident."

River of woes
Top environmentalists have already warned that if the rising Yamuna continues to swell at the present rate, it would wash away all the structures erected in the riverbed as part of the preparations for the mega sporting event.

"The recent flood in the river is the result of large-scale encroachment of the Yamuna riverbed. We had warned the government before it took up construction of the village and other structures, but it did not pay heed to our demands," Magasaysay award winner Rajender Singh, who is also the face of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, had told MiD DAY on August 28t last year. The campaign by Rajender Singh was defeated by cops.

In 2007-08, when the construction work on the riverbed for Delhi Metro and Games village started, the city had seen huge protests from environmentalists. The activists had then approached the courts too. However, the courts had ruled in favour of the government.

The Other Side

There no such problem at the Games Village. The water may appear in the rainy season, but right now there is no such problem. -Neemo Dhar, Spokesperson, DDA

No freebies

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had clarified in October that it will auction 100 of the more than 600 Commonwealth Games flats in its possession, and not allot them to bureaucrats or ministers.
"No individual, politician or a bureaucrat or any person of influence belonging to any organisation was proposed, as DDA does not have the mandate to benefit any individual," the development authority had said in a statement.
The clarification came a day after a news report suggested that the DDA had sent a proposal to the ministry of urban development to allow the flats to be allotted to government agencies.
The beneficiaries include Delhi Police, public sector units, members of parliament, state legislators, apart from agencies like the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Comptroller and Auditor General's office, currently investigating corruption charges in various Games projects.

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