The Hindu : New Delhi News : Games may mark full attendance

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New Delhi

Games may mark full attendance

Urvashi Sarkar

Chefs de Mission and advance teams have arrived from all 71 countries

Celebrations have begun: Athletes from the Isle of Man enjoying themselves at the Commonwealth Games Village in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: The number of athletes participating in the upcoming Commonwealth Games will cross 6,000, which will be more than the Melbourne edition of the Games, according to Games Village Mayor Dalbir Singh. By Thursday afternoon over 3,500 athletes and delegates had arrived here, with 500 more expected by the end of the day.

“The Chef de Mission of each of the 71 countries and their advance teams have arrived which implies that all 71 countries are participating,” Mr. Singh said.

The Gambian Ambassador and the Kenyan High Commissioner visited the Village on Thursday and are reported to have spoken favourably of the arrangements. “They labelled the Village as beautiful and said their athletes are pleased and excited to be here,” Mr. Singh added.

“Cabinet Secretary K. M. Chandrashekar , Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and I have been meeting frequently for the past week as a kind of crisis management group to sort out issues such as cleanliness and to evolve new structures for repair and maintenance,” the Mayor said.

Each of the 34 towers in the Village has a commander of the Delhi Andaman and Nicobar Islands service cadre and a deputy commander. A cleaning and housekeeping and repair team has also been deputed for each tower. Besides, there is a core maintenance team which is responsible for heavy work and back-up maintenance.

The welcoming and flag-hoisting ceremonies for Isle of Man, Jersey and Northern Ireland were held at the Village amphitheatre.

The ceremonies will be held up to October 2. A carnival-like atmosphere prevails around the amphitheatre which is the site of cultural extravaganzas.

The incoming athletes have relished the welcome ceremonies which are a mix of Indian style performances, dances and popular Western music.

Forty-five schools from the Capital are performing at these ceremonies, with children displaying myriad skills.

Jolly banter and camaraderie mark the international zone of the Village where athletes are having a good time exploring the various shops and facilities.

A number of male athletes have been spotted in the salon availing the various grooming and beauty treatments.

The games room, bar and internet café appear to be some of the favourite hangouts of the players.

The souvenir shop at the Village is also seeing sales with athletes stopping by to pick T-shirts, caps and other knick-knacks.

Store managers say that visitors are still looking at the goods on display and sales are yet to pick up.

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