With accreditation cards missing,shooters locked out

“Every day we come to the range to practice because there is hardly any time left for the event but they didn’t let us enter today citing security reasons. At least there should have been prior information regarding such sudden security measures so that we plan our routines accordingly,” said Mansher Singh who is taking part in trap event at the CWG.

Not only were the participants refused access to the practicing arena without accreditation cards,but also ordered to park their vehicles at the parking lot which is built more than a kilometer away from the range.

Plans to provide a shuttle bus service from the parking area to the range were put forward by the organising committee but no such provision was made available to the athletes on Tuesday.

The shooters had to sacrifice one crucial day of practice as their accreditation cards were provided to them only after noon. The shooting range has to be closed at 2 pm everyday for the ongoing construction. Despite the fact that the team sought permission to access the range after that time,training was not possible because of the lack of buses to help them reach the venue.

“The security personnel said that even if we have the accreditation,our vehicles have to be parked at the prescribed area. Being a shooter,I can’t carry my equipment and walk a mile for training. This is absolute disappointment. Forgetting everything,I was still interested to train but the absence of bus service entirely ruined the day for me,” said skeet shooter Mairaj Khan.

Interestingly,even the accreditation that were received late on Tuesday were not complete and left several shooters out. This means that till their accreditation cards will get processed,they will have to skip their training routines.

“The camp is going on and the players have to train. Suddenly,the players are prohibited to enter the range for security reasons,which obviously will disturb their routine work.Agreed that security is an important issue but at least some information should have been conveyed,” Rajiv Bhatia,secretary of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said.

“All this is completely unorganised. The organising committee should have coordination among the various venues. I had applied for my accreditation but it has not been forwarded yet. The players who have been accredited are not being informed to collect their cards on time. And today it was raining a lot and it is not possible for any national shooter to walk till the range from the parking area,” says Smit Singh who is a standby in the skeet team.

Soon the ranges will be occupied by the foreign athletes which means that the Indian shooters will have to manage within themselves.

“It is only during these days that we can train full time at the ranges. The Games Village will see players coming after 2-3 days and certain ranges have to be booked for them. But if we are sent off like this,it will be tough for us to find sufficient time to train together before the Games,” Smit adds.