Days after the Organising Committee exuded confidence that the venues would be ready in time, the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday decided to push the deadlines for a few Games infrastructure projects back by about a month.

“There was a detailed discussion about the projects. There was this fear that the agencies might do shoddy work while trying to meet the deadlines. Hence this decision to further the deadlines was taken. It has been conveyed to the respective agencies,” a senior Organising Committee official told The Indian Express.

He said the GoM was particularly worried about the Shyama Prasad Mukerjee Aquatic Complex, which comes under the Sports Authority of India (SAI). The complex was supposed to be handed over by January 31, 2010, however, just about 50 per cent of the work has been completed till now.

The other SAI projects have also come under the scanner as they struggle to meet deadlines.

No impact on test events

Meanwhile, joint secretary (sports) Rahul Bhatnagar said the venues would be ready before test events. “Most of the test events are scheduled to take place in April. Despite the deadlines being pushed further, it is not going to have any impact on any of them,” Bhatnagar said.

The PWD projects are said to be well on time and the state government has said it will deliver the Thyagaraja Stadium by December.