The organising committee is yet to find a solution for transporting the grass, being grown specially in Nainital, that is to be laid in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium after the opening ceremony. The grass laying process will have to be fast as sports events will start a couple of days after the opening ceremony. However, the problem is that the Delhi police has expressed serious reservations on giving clearance to a large number of trucks that would bring the grass from entering the heavily secured stadium in the midst of Games. The OC had earlier suggested that the Delhi policemen go all the way to Nainital and escort the trucks to the city but the police rejected the idea.
A senior OC official said on Monday, “We had asked the Delhi police to escort the green turf grass from Nainital to Delhi.” However after the discussion, the OC was told that the Delhi police might not be able to dispatch a team for bringing the turf grass, the official added.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer, who is working on Commonwealth Games security, stated that the decision of not sending a Delhi police team to Nainital was taken by the Delhi government. “A police team would have been dispatched to Nainital if we had orders from the city government,” said a senior police officer.
However, the OC officials maintain that the decision for not sending a team to Nainital was taken by senior police officers. “We have not been able to find a way to transport the turf grass for the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium due to refusal by the Delhi police,” said a senior OC official.
The green turf was to be re-laid with new grass a day after the opening ceremony. Earlier last week, the warm-up area at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium had also to be repaired as the rains played spoilsport. Later, another incident sent alarm bells ringing, as a portion of a track at the stadium caved in.