Heli-borne snipers, four-layered security cordon around Commonwealth Games venues and exclusive lanes for Games vehicles were among the components of a mammoth security plan unveiled on Monday by the government for the mega sporting event.
The security plan prepared for the event, which would see participation from around 8,500 athletes from 71 countries competing in 17 events, also envisages snipers on rooftops, commando hit teams and expert groups to tackle any chemical, biological, or nuclear attacks.
Unveiling the plan, Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal told reporters, "we will be looking at not only into securing the Games. Each and every aspect of security of the city has (also) been taken care of. We assure you a safe and secure Commonwealth Games".
According to the plan, the Games venues, Games Village, practice areas and parking lots as also the Indira Gandhi International Airport where athletes will arrive will have a four-layered security cordon.
Special Commissioner (Administration) Neeraj Kumar said there will be surveillance from the skies with the help of the Air Force. "There will also be the deployment of heli-borne assault teams to thwart any terror strikes," he said.
He said the venues, village and hotels will be "locked down" a week before the start of the event after extensive anti-sabotage security checks.
"For easy travel of athletes and officials, an exclusive lane will be provided," Dadwal said.
Elaborating on the security at venues, Kumar said the 12 venues will have "outer, middle, inner and exclusive" security zones.
At the outer cordon, he said, the traffic will be stopped and access controlled. At the middle cordon, securitymen will channelise the spectators to their designated seats while in the inner cordon, the barcode reading of tickets to see their originality will take place and spectators' photos captured.
Mobile Quick Reaction teams will be deployed on the outer perimeter of the venues besides keeping a close watch through CCTV surveillance, Kumar said.
"We are closely working with central intelligence agencies. The Air Force will be surveying the airspace. We will have heli-borne snipers patrolling the skies," he said.
At the centre would be an exclusion zone which is in the 30 metre radius of the stadium, he said adding spectators and others will have to go through Door-Frame Metal Detectors and X-Ray scanning besides manual searching.
The Games village will also have a similar elaborate security arrangement. The boundary of the village will have a three metre high perimeter wall, a 1.5 metre high iron grill on top of it, mobile QRTs and CCTV surveillance system.
"The Games village will have a Chemical, Biological, Radio-active, Nuclear Explosives response team deployed there. The airspace will be kept secure by the Air Force while heli-borne assault teams will hover in the skies," Kumar said. PTI
