Cycling test event off track?

With barely three days to go for the cycling test event, the basic requirement of barricading the route has not even begun. Neelam Pandey reports.

With barely three days to go for the cycling test event, the basic requirement of barricading the route has not even begun.

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Not only this, according to the Delhi traffic police, the route of the event includes the Outer and Inner Circles of Connaught Place, where construction work is still on.

The Delhi police have also not yet given a go-ahead for holding the event.

"We will only give permission if all the basic security requirements are met by the organisers," said Dharmender Kumar, joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi range).

Earlier, as reported in Hindustan Times on July 29, the Games Organising Committee, which has finalised the route for the cycling test, had said that all construction work will be completed before the trial starts.

But work is still on in Connaught Place (CP).

The NDMC has claimed that due to the incessant rains, that the city has been receiving for the past few days, it has been unable to start the work of relaying the roads, required for the event.

The civic agency is currently carrying out restoration work in Connaught Place, including upgradation of subways.

With half of the carriageway taken up by the construction work and material cyclists are going to jostle for space.

Experts point out that for a cycling event, the basic requirement is smooth roads and no obstructions on the road, keeping the safety of the participants in mind.