DDA admits Commonwealth Games Village flaws, blames builder

With the Centre making its intention of fixing accountability for lapses in all Games-related project clear, some of the agencies involved, which had been silent so far, are rushing to deflect any blame from themselves. Moushumi Das Gupta reports. CBI joins probe

With the Centre making its intention of fixing accountability for lapses in all Games-related project clear, some of the agencies involved, which had been silent so far, are rushing to deflect any blame from themselves.

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The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has admitted in an interim report submitted on Tuesday to the urban development (UD) ministry, that there were various “deficiencies and irregularities” committed by Emaar-MGF, the Dubai-based project developer that was given the contract to develop the Games Village.

The report was submitted after urban development minister S. Jaipal Reddy shot off a letter to DDA on October 7 — when the Games were already underway — directing the agency to give details on the alleged irregularities committed by the developer. Reddy, sources said, is likely to recommend action against the developer by the week-end.

The ministry is not likely to recommend any action against DDA officials — who are equally culpable — as they failed to properly monitor the project.

Despite repeated attempts Emaar-MGF officials were unavailable for comment.