It's official now. The road development work at Baner for the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) will not be completed before the mega event as the civic administration would suspend the construction work by September 15 and take up work to make it usable by end of the month. However, the remaining work would be completed after the Games.

Concerned over the incomplete work with just over a month for the international games, city MP Suresh Kalmadi, who is also the chairman of the organising committee for CYG, reviewed the on-going work and expressed hope that "all will be well" before the start of the games.

Kalmadi directed the civic administration to speed up the work and make it usable during the Games. The work is being carried out under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

"I am satisfied with the ongoing road construction work with a hope that it will be made usable by September end," Kalmadi told reporters after the visit. He said the civic administration was working hard to complete the work and all the political parties were "giving total cooperation."

The only concern area was Baner stretch, he said, adding the PMC will make it usable for the Games.

Kalmadi said he would again review the work after the Ganesh festival to ensure all is well for the international event.

Earlier, the civic administration led by Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi said that the concretisation of the 2.5 km of the 4.5 km three lane road from Baner Phata to Balewadi would be complete by September 15.

Around 1.25 km road from Sadanand Hotel to Baner Phata and 1.3 km road from Baner Phata towards the sports complex would be completed with two lanes of each side being concretised and one lane being paved with interlocking blocks. However, the 2.5 km stretch in between will be tarred and the concrete work would be resumed after the Games.

"We are racing against time. The civic administration got only nine months to complete the work while it normally takes two years for completion," Pardeshi said. "The delay has been due to the late issue of work order which was affected by the time taken by the standing committee in giving approval."

The construction work of the subway crossing the Mumbai-Bangalore national highway has been delayed due to the time spent on seeking permission of the National Highway Authority of India, he said.

In a six-part series, Newsline had highlighted the city's readiness for hosting the CYG and the likely delay in completing the development work. Though the state government had directed the civic body to take up the work 24×7, stressing the need for working at night to avoid inconvenience to the public, it was after the Newsline series that the PMC issued directives to the contractors to start work during night.

On August 19, the Centre had approved Rs 165 crore of the additional funds for the completion of the road development work for CYG to meet the increased cost of the projects.