Tight security in Delhi for Games closing

NEW DELHI - The Indian capital will be a “closed and restricted city” on Thursday for the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony with government offices, markets, schools and colleges shut and thousands of security personnel swarming all over the metropolis and especially around Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the venue for the event.

With just two days to go for the ceremony, New Delhi is witnessing an unprecedented security countdown with hundreds of security personnel checking vehicles and additional forces taking positions at railway stations, bus terminals and other public places.

The 24×7 security outside the Games venues, especially Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) stadium, has been strengthened, police officials said.

“We have been on high alert all these 10 days. We will remain on top alert state till the last day of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) on Thursday,” Rajan Bhagat, spokesperson of Delhi Police, told IANS.

“Our responsibility will continue till the last foreign athlete and official leaves the country safely,” Bhagat added. About 7,000 athletes and officials from 71 countries and territories have been in New Delhi for the 12-day mega sports festival, the biggest sports event to be organised by India after the 1982 Asian Games.

A senior official in the home ministry, associated with the round-the-clock control room in the North Block office of the ministry, told IANS that “there will be no compromise on security till Thursday”.

“Things have worked safely so far. But we will not lower our guard,” he said.

From the details the Delhi Police officials are giving, Delhi will be a “closed and restricted city” Thursday, other than the competition venues and the JLN stadium.

All the central and state government offices will be closed on Thursday, officials said. Most of the private offices will follow suit, especially in view of the transport problems for the employees.

New Delhi’s main markets will also be closed. Schools, colleges and hostels have been already closed during the 12-day Games period.

Delhi airport will be a no-fly zone during the three-hour closing ceremony from 7 p.m.

Aerial security has been already upgraded with sophisticated radars of the Indian Air Force monitoring the Delhi skies and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to detect air intrusions.

Thousands of police and paramilitary forces will be on the roads to guard the city from any direct attack. Plainclothes personnel have been mingling in the capital’s busy markets and residential colonies, bus stands and railway stations.

Delhi Police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal has said that 28,000 state police personnel and 20,000 paramilitary forces have been deployed on duties directly connected with the Games - inside and outside security of the JLN stadium - and 10 other venues, the Games Village and on other Games duties.

The remaining personnel in the Delhi Police - about 50,000 - are also on general security duties with a focus on the Games, official sources said.

Thursday will be a day of traffic restrictions for Delhiites.

Traffic towards JLN will begin at 2 p.m., five hours before the ceremony begins.

The exclusive Games lane traffic regulations will be in full implementation on the day. Already, about 2,000 vehicles have been fined for violating the CWG lane rules.

The Patel Chowk and Central Secretariat stations of Delhi Metro will be closed from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., but there will be alternate inter-change arrangements, a Metro official said.

The Metro services will ply beyond the usual closing of 11 p.m. to facilitate the return of spectators at the JLN stadium. Additional trains may be run from the stadium, the source added.

On the Games inaugural day Oct 3, the Metro trains ran till 1 a.m.

The security at the JLN stadium will be strict, a senior police official told IANS. “We have been told to be strict and and we will be,” he added.

Besides Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who will be the chief guest, several other foreign dignitaries and Indian leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chief Sonia Gandhi and other VVIPs will be attending the ceremony.

All visitors will be subjected to manual and mechanical security checks at different entry points to the stadium.

Several high-tech security equipments, including the devices to check CBNR (chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological) assaults have been put in use for the first time in India during the ongoing Games.

“Our men and machines will be on top alert from Thursday morning to the early hours of Friday,” Rajan Bhagat told IANS.