Indian premier tours troubled Commonwealth Games venues

Many facilities for the event have yet to be completed, while new roads, flyovers and metro lines are also behind schedule amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement, with the Games 35 days away.

Singh urged authorities “to redouble their efforts to quickly complete whatever works remained as the people were expecting a spectacular and flawless opening to the Commonwealth Games,” a statement from his office said.

He visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which is being renovated to host the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics.

An anti-corruption body earlier this month found a host of problems with construction work for the Games, including the use of poor-quality materials, allegations of fake building safety certificates and financial kickbacks.

New Delhi's chief minister Sheila Dikshit admitted that confusion over who was responsible for preparation of the Games had caused many delays.

“There is a terrible problem of multiplicity of authority,” she said in comments broadcast by CNN-IBN television station on Sunday.

The event, which opens on Oct. 3, is already the costliest Commonwealth Games in history, with an infrastructure and organizing budget of US$2 billion.

Frenzied last-minute construction efforts have been slowed by heavy monsoon downpours in the city, with the weather office predicting more rains in September.

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