CWG organisers planning to hire pvt security agencies

Aiming to pre-empt any threat to the next year's Commonwealth Games in the city,organisers of the mega event are planning to hire private security agencies as part of a comprehensive safety mechanism.

Aiming to pre-empt any threat to the next year’s Commonwealth Games in the city,organisers of the mega event are planning to hire private security agencies as part of a comprehensive safety mechanism.

Senior officials of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee said foolproof security arrangements will be put in place in the city ahead of the prestigious sporting event. “We are looking at employing private security agencies also to beef up the security mechanism as allaying security fears is the most important priority,” a senior official of the Organising Committee said.

Lt Governor of Delhi Tejinder Khanna is looking after the security aspect with the help from the Union Home Ministry. After the Mumbai terror strikes last year and attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore,security has become a prime concern for participants.

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The official said security for the sporting event which would feature athletes from 71 nations will be on par with last year’s Beijing Olympics. “We will provide foolproof security to all the athletes,officials and visitors of the Games,” he said. The official said Commonwealth Games Federation had sent several delegations to New Delhi to check on the security aspect and they have given a report to the Organising committee to follow up.

The official said a delegation of the Federation would again visit the city in October to see security arrangements. The Union Home Ministry has already approved a special project for setting up of a state-of-the-art dedicated communication network for Delhi Police.

The network Cyber Highway will facilitate implementation of convergent services of application,call interception and monitoring system. The facilities will allow all police stations of Delhi Police to come under one network leading to access to data on crimes and criminals at the click of a mouse. The Home Ministry has also decided to create a Special Task Force (STF) for the overall security of the games village and sports venues,considering the vulnerability of the National Capital Region.

Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi had also said the turmoil prevailing in the neighbouring countries has made it necessary for India to be extremely careful about security arrangements for next year’s Commonwealth Games. As the Games draw near,infrastructure projects have also gained momentum with most of them likely to be completed by April next year.

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The official said all the important projects like metro expansion and improvement of the international airport are going on as scheduled and the Committee is satisfied with the progress.

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