The home stretch

Dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, Bajaj arrives at the Le Corbusier-designed complex at 8 am prompt, and heads straight to ‘base camp’. The small, cordoned-off area on the 12 lakh square feet ground, where the Yoga Day event will be held, has over 30 supervisors and a contractor already, working for the one-hour event.

The event is being organised by the Chandigarh administration in collaboration with the state governments of Punjab and Haryana. The budget, provided by the Union Ministry of Ayush, is expected to be around Rs 8 crore.

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Bajaj begins by briefing the group and assigning them tasks for the day — levelling the ground, setting up the stage and finishing some paint work. Once the group disperses, Bajaj has a 30-minute meeting with Chief Engineer Mukesh Anand on the progress of the works.

“It has been three days since we started work and 70 per cent of the material, including mats and carpets, have arrived. For the implementation of all the tasks, I need to co-ordinate with three departments each day,” says Bajaj, who joined the Engineering Department in Chandigarh as a draftsman back in 1979 .

The 30,000 mats, each with the Yoga Day logo, and of the specified 5 mm thickness and 6X2 ft size, are being supplied by Arch Concept Private Ltd, the Delhi-based agency which made arrangements for the event in the Capital last year. The ground has been divided into eight blocks, where the mats, sourced by the company from different parts of the country, will be lined up on the day of the event. There have been strict instructions regarding that, after the mats at last year’s event were found to be Made in China.

Over 900 labourers are hard at work at the site putting up 40 LED lights, 300 prefabricated bio toilets, over 200 dustbins and several green-coloured carpets to cover around 10 lakh sq ft of area. These materials have also been supplied by the same Delhi-based company, and are being ferried to the Capitol Complex in trucks.

Ten spots have been identified for setting up security posts around the complex.

The area is a high-security zone, as it houses the Secretariat, Legislative Assembly and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and entry to it is restricted. This has posed the biggest headache for Bajaj so far.

He must get daily permissions from the police for entry of the trucks bringing in the supplies. “It takes a lot of our time,” he complains. At least 15 supply trucks from Delhi enter the complex each day.

Around 10 am, Bajaj and sub-divisional officer Arman Singh begin their rounds of the site. The two stop at a few points to check on the progress of work and to instruct the labourers.

Soon a team of three members from the UT’s Health Department arrives to select spots for setting up medical booths for the day. After a 45-minute meeting with Bajaj, the team finalises 10 spots based on their accessibility from the eight blocks into which the ground has been divided.

An hour later, just when all seems to be on track, work gets disrupted by a sudden downpour. Bajaj and the over thousand members on the ground rush to take cover under make-shift camps erected in one corner of the venue. Rain continues to lash the complex for the next two hours, pushing the team behind schedule. Bajaj and a few of the other engineers decide to take a break for lunch — a simple meal of roti-subzi — at the UT Secretariat in Sector 9, 1.5 km away.

By 2 pm, the rain has subsided, and Bajaj returns to the ground, instructing labourers to make up for lost time. “Rain has hampered work for the past two days. The Met Department has predicted that there will be rainfall the next few days also. It is a big concern, there is very little time left,” worries Bajaj, who lives with his mother, wife and two children.

As the sun returns, workers swing back into action, now beginning work on the stage that incidentally will have a waterproof top. “The stage has to be set up according to the specifications of the Special Protection Group (SPG) and needs to have space for 20 people, including the Prime Minister. Once the stage is ready, we will need a structural stability certificate from the SPG and Chandigarh Police,” says Bajaj.

The SPG team is expected to visit the site in a few days.

Over where the stage is being constructed, with aluminium rods, there is a sudden commotion. One of the rods has fallen on a labourer and he has sustained injuries. There is some panic, till it is realised the injuries are minor. The worker is sent over for medical aid, and work resumes.

Bajaj says he and his team also have the responsibility of “beautifying” the venue. So in the coming days, around 4,000 ornamental plants — 200 each of Chandani Dwarf, Tecoma Stans, Hamelia Patens, Ficus Tall, Junipers and Areca Palm; 50 Golden Bottle Topiary and 2,000 Ground Covers — worth Rs 4.35 lakh in all, will be planted in the grounds. Another thousand earthen pots with different varieties of flowers in bloom will be placed across the venue.

By 5:30 pm, the levelling work is complete and the ground is ready for the plants. “We are waiting for suppliers to send over the plants now,” says Bajaj, examining the ground with his feet and instructing the labourers to be “careful”. “Capitol Complex is vying for World Heritage Site status and we need to be cautious not to cause any damage to the place,” he notes.

The venue needs to be handed over to security agencies by June 18. The main event on June 21 will be preceded by a two-day rehearsal on June 19 and 20. All the participants, barring the Prime Minister, will be present for the rehearsals.

Half-an-hour later, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Health Minister Anil Vij arrive at the site. For the next 10 minutes, the two interact with Bajaj and other members of the staff. “He seemed satisfied with the arrangements so far,” smiles Bajaj.

After seeing off the CM, Bajaj rushes for his 6 pm appointment: the daily review meeting at the UT Secretariat. At the meeting, Bajaj tells Chief Engineer Mukesh Anand about the progress of the work and then the team of five men chalk out the plan for the next day.

“We will have all eyes on us, it is an international event and there is no room for error,” says Bajaj, the nerves again showing, as he walks out of the Secretariat.

It’s almost 8 pm now and beginning to get dark outside. But there is still a lot on Bajaj’s mind. “We need to coordinate with the road division of the engineering wing for making parking arrangements in areas adjoining the complex. No private vehicles will be allowed on the day and 10,000 participants each from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh will be transported to the venue by buses. I will begin work on it tomorrow,” says Bajaj.
It will be a long day again tomorrow.