Games of Squalor: A shocking look inside the filthy rooms that await the world's athletes in Delhi
Last updated at 1:36 AM on 24th September 2010
- New Zealand joins Canada and Scotland in delaying arrival in Delhi
- Indian Prime Minister convenes crisis meeting on Games
- Wales team set to decide today whether they will travel to India
- Advance party of English athletes will arrive in Delhi today
- Child labourers photographed installing seats at main stadium
Shocking pictures yesterday exposed the filthy state of the accommodation provided for athletes at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
The images were revealed just hours before the first wave of the English team flew out to the Indian capital.
They show stained wash basins and showers and dark red marks caused by workmen spitting out chewed betel leaves.
Filthy: The bathrooms of the Commonwealth Games village are covered in building dust and mud
Mess: A dirty basin, covered in an unknown substance, in the Commonwealth Games village
Paw effort: Animal footprints can be clearly seen on this bed in the village
Another picture shows urine and rain water on a bathroom floor in the accommodation close to the main Jawaharlal Nehru stadium.
Paw marks from one of the many wild dogs that roam Delhi’s streets can also be seen marking one of the beds.
Many of the participating nations, including England, Scotland and Wales, have complained that the athlete’s village is not fit for human habitation.
Wash and go? The bathrooms at the Commonwealth Games athletes' village have been exposed as being in a particularly poor state
Worry: Several top athletes have already pulled out of the Commonwealth Games
Danger: Exposed cables and huge holes in the building work can be seen in these pictures
Last minute: British triple jumper Phillips Idowu, left, has decided not to pull out of the Commonwealth Games, while child labourers, right, continue to work on Jawaharlal Stadium in Delhi yesterday
Yesterday there were also fears that the site – which was being heavily guarded by police from the media as well as any terrorist threat – would flood.
Monsoon rains have caused the nearby River Yamuna to burst its banks and stagnant water is a breeding ground for mosquitos which can carry the potentially life-threatening dengue fever.
Squalor: A family at the temporary shelter where they moved after water levels rose near the Commonwealth Games village, seen in the background, left, while workers treat the open air canal to kill mosquitoes
Health risk: Large areas of open water are attracting mosquitoes and there has already been an outbreak of dengue fever, which is carried by the insects
No-show: Three countries have postponed their arrival at the Games until conditions improve
Labourers check the roof of the weightlifting venue at Jawaharlal Stadium yesterday after part of the ceiling collapsed
The organisers yesterday drafted in 1,000 extra workers – each being paid no more than £3 a day – in a desperate effort to clear up the mess before the Games’ scheduled start on October 3.
There were concerns that some of the staff that had been drafted in were children.
The Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has seized control of the project and yesterday the federal government ordered the Organising Committee to hand over management of the village.
The Committee also has been criticised over faulty infrastructure – problems that were epitomised when a bridge linking a car park to the stadium collapsed on Tuesday.
Further humiliation came 24 hours later when part of a ceiling in the weight-lifting arena collapsed.
Canadian officials have described the indifference of Indian officials as incomprehensible.
However, polls in Indian newspapers show a vast majority of Indians are ashamed of the fiasco.
England’s advance party, comprising men’s hockey players, lawn bowlers and staff, are due to arrive this morning.
Welsh athletes are due to leave for India tomorrow. But more British athletes may decide to pull out unilaterally.
Yesterday the Scotland team said its first party of 41 would delay their departure.
Race against time: Labourers work to concrete a staircase on a pedestrian bridge outside of the main stadium yesterday
Paving the way: Workers lay roads and paths at the main stadium yesterday
