Even as the DDA has promised nearly 4,000 rooms at Vasant Kunj flats project for the Commonwealth Games-2010 by September 10, it is going to be a tough ask before one can say that the place will be “battle ready” in time.
Member finance, DDA, Nand Lal said that the handing over of the flats to the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) has begun and as more and more flats get completed they would be handed over from time to time.
It is expected that by September 10, nearly 4,000 rooms would be ready.
As of now, the ITDC has been handed over more than 900 flats amounting to around 2,000 rooms. As per new datelines, therefore, the entire work entails getting ready around 2,000 rooms within 36 days. The work on the Vasant Kunj project had begun in April and, from April-July, which is a period of 122 days, the DDA was able to get ready only around 2,000 flats.
The work at the site has been going on at a slow pace ever since the two contractors, who were doing the job of re-modelling the existing flats to three-star category standards, virtually backed out of the project, leaving DDA in the lurch. Nearly a dozen new contractors have also been pushed into service. But the major problem, official concede is availability of labour.
Even so, the contracts for setting up of security gadgets, installation of CCTV cameras are yet to be awarded. While these equipment would be hired for a specific period, official sources said that these activities too require identification of vantage points and laying of cables.
Incidentally, the Vasant Kunj flats project was a result of the failed hotel projects of the DDA, wherein nearly 40 plots were auctioned for budget hotels to meet the demand for tourist accommodation. But only four projects were completed by April, following which the new plan to re-model existing flats was floated.