Indian Army Steps In To Help Commonwealth Games

The Indian army has been drafted in to complete last-minute construction projects in the countdown to the Commonwealth Games.
Around 1,000 soldiers have been recruited to work on infrastructure, including the building of a vital pedestrian bridge to the main stadium.

The SOS to the army came amid reports eleventh hour eviction notices have been served to Delhi's slum dwellers to clear the area around the athletes' village.
Army Steps In To Help Commonwealth Games
Share13 Share Comments (12)10:21am UK, Sunday September 26, 2010

Damien Pearse, Sky News Online

The Indian army has been drafted in to complete last-minute construction projects in the countdown to the Commonwealth Games.

Around 1,000 soldiers have been recruited to work on infrastructure, including the building of a vital pedestrian bridge to the main stadium.

The SOS to the army came amid reports eleventh hour eviction notices have been served to Delhi's slum dwellers to clear the area around the athletes' village.



Sky's Ashish Joshi said soldiers from the engineering regiment had started work on a new bridge to replace a footbridge which collapsed earlier in the week.

The bridge will connect visitors to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the event's main venue.

Joshi said: "The panic button has been pushed. Projects are going ahead at breakneck speed as teams arrive."

An army spokesman told the Times Of India: "An army engineering regiment has started the work for the Bailey bridge.
"We will complete the bridge within the timeframe and hand it over to the games organisers."

Soldiers have been given a five-day deadline to construct the bridge, which will be erected on three pillars.

The decision to seek the army's help came after an alternative plan to bring spectators into the stadium from the south side raised security concerns.