Chidambaram reviews security, people told to be alert

NEW DELHI - With five days to go for the Commonwealth Games (CWG), Home Minister P. Chidambaram Tuesday reviewed security arrangements with top officials including chiefs of intelligence agencies.

The meeting was held even as Delhi Police asked people to be vigilant about hidden explosives in public places.

“The security scenario in the city and across the country in the run up to the Games was reviewed. Plans for the ‘Games mode’ security, likely to begin Oct 1, was finalised,” a senior official told IANS.

The meting was attended by Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, chiefs of the Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing, Delhi Police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal and officials dealing with CWG security and internal security.

“Everything is looked after,” Dadwal told reporters.

After the meeting, Chidambaram toured the 24X7 control room for the Games, set up in North Block, which houses the home ministry.

Delhi Police Tuesday used public address systems at bus stations, market places and railway stations to ask people to be vigilant about possible terror attacks in public places.

Passengers arriving at bus terminals here had their bags checked.

“Our luggage was checked by police,” Ram Narain Meena, who arrived from Alwar in Rajasthan, told IANS at the Sarai Kale Khan bus station.

As the police enforced the CWG exclusive lane travel system for Games participants, commuters were struck in traffic jams in many parts of the city.

“The delays are increasing near the Games Village day by day. I took 80 minutes instead of the usual 40 for a 20-km car journey from Ghazipur (in east Delhi) to Gole Market (in the heart of the city),” said Ravi Shankar, an employee of a private firm.

Ajay Chadha, special commissioner of police (traffic), thanked the public for adhering to the regulations on CWG lanes.

The restrictions will be in force 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. till Oct 26.

The “experience will encourage us to follow the lane driving system after the Games too”, he wrote on the traffic police Facebook page.

Since Monday, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) were deployed in Delhi’s skies to detect aerial intrusions. Army helicopters hovered over the Games Village to provide protection to the 63-hectare campus, which has begun to house athletes for the Oct 3-14 Games.