By M H Ahssan
As time runs out before New Delhi's hosting of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, there is widespread concern about India's levels of preparedness for the spectacle, which was hoped to showcase the nation's rising sporting and economic prowess and rejuvenate the capital's infrastructure.
There was nationwide jubilation in 2005 when New Delhi won the right to host the games, after beating stiff competition from the Canadian city of Hamilton. Expectations were high as this is the first time India will host the event, and is only the third developing country to do so after Jamaica in 1966 and Malaysia in 1998.
The games, scheduled to be held principally at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in October next year, are expected to cost US$1.6 billion, with infrastructure preparations that include the construction of five new stadiums and a games village.
An indoor stadium is being built at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for weightlifting, at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex for wrestling, at Siri Fort for badminton and squash, at the Yamuna Complex for table tennis. The world-class games village, being built at cost of $40 million, will accommodate athletes and officials from 20 sports disciplines from 25 countries.
However, while the plans are theoretically in place, factors such as the global economic slowdown, the November 26, 2008, Mumbai terror attacks and a lack of coordination among various urban development authorities have combined to throw numerous games-linked projects in doubt.
To make matters worse, a startling revelation this week by Sitaram Yechury, head of the committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture - which was set up last year to probe the progress of the games' preparation - has thrown up serious doubts about the city's capability to prepare adequate accommodation and security for the competition.
The committee's report, entitled "Development of Tourism Infrastructure and Amenities for Commonwealth games 2010", said that as the December 31 deadline for handing stadia over to the organizing committee swiftly approaches, many projects are yet to be initiated, let alone completed. The report said that despite there being sufficient funds available, the Sheila Dixit government in Delhi did not submit any infrastructure proposals until November 2008.
The 31-member committee has also questioned the capacity of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to ready the necessary accommodation, renovate hospitality facilities or modernize tourism sites ahead of the games. The committee said that hotels in the capital and its surrounding cities have only 14,000 rooms available, though 30,000 will be needed for the expected influx of foreign and domestic visitors.
The committee has slammed the New Delhi authorities for a lack of coordination among the various agencies involved in building games-related projects. It said that despite a raft of civic and administrative agencies being responsible for the tasks, there is nobody to coordinate the agencies involved. It said the confusion will lead to problems preparing roads, airports and electric supply, and that entertainment, parking and information centers will not be ready.
Even before the committee raised these inadequacies, global hotel investment service firm Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels (JLLH), had already highlighted Delhi's accommodation shortage. The firm said that the room shortfall had been caused by regulatory and financing impediments, and would likely create chaos.
"The pace of creation of additional hotel accommodation at 39 hotel sites, auctioned by the Delhi Development Authority since January 2006, is way behind schedule," said a senior Sports Ministry official. "Of the proposed 39 additional hotels, work is only going on at 19."
Compounding the problems is that due to the global economic slowdown, several private builders who took up hotel projects are facing severe funding problems. The fate of the games village is also under a cloud after the Dubai-based developer contracted to build it, Emaar MGF, approached the DDA for a financial bailout.
The government earlier granted Emaar MGF a nine-month deferral on the repayment of a $15.8 million loan from the State Bank of India, and no decision has been made on its request for additional funds.
Apart from infrastructure bottlenecks, the locations for the games' main venues are also in doubt. Environmental cases are pending over the allegedly illegal felling of more than 1,000 trees needed for the area where squash and basketball courts and the games village on the Yamuna River floodplain will be built.
An environmental assessment found that clearing the land could cause serious flooding and affect Delhi's already meager water supply. In view of the magnitude of the problem, the Supreme Court has ordered a re-assessment of the plans.
"Just because you're hosting world-class games, it doesn't mean that you can wreck the city's environment," said environmental activist Kiran Mansukhani. "If due attention isn't given to Delhi's ecology during the preparations for the games, their fallout could be catastrophic. In their hurry to host the games, the planners have failed to present a holistic vision of what Delhi would be like after them."
This is not the first time the Delhi government has faced flak over its preparation for the games. Last year, during an appraisal survey of the venues, the Commonwealth games Federation (CGF) expressed concern over the slow pace of work. The CDF was so upset that it hinted that Delhi might even lose the bid to host the games if it did not improve its performance.
The CGF will do two subsequent reviews to check the progress of the preparations, one in August and another in March 2010. The latter review represents the absolute cut-off point, though there is no precedent of the games being moved at this late stage.
After the CGF's harsh assessment, Suresh Kalmadi, the president of the Indian Olympic Association, scrambled to assure the federation that games venues would be completed by the deadline. "New Delhi's Commonwealth games are happening, let there be no doubt about that," insisted Kalmadi at the time.
Apart from other delays, the largest infrastructure upgrade project that was to be synchronized with the games - the modernization of the dilapidated New Delhi Railway Station - is also off track.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad had promised to complete the modernization of the capital's main train station by October 2010, but the project has run into a number of delays, including the lack of a traffic clearance from the DDA. Experts say this will hold up the project by at least six months and jeopardize any chance of it being ready before the games.
The problems are disappointing as one of the primary reasons India gave for hosting the competition was matching its arch-rival China's efforts in making a success of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. Another reason was the transformation of the capital's existing infrastructure, and to generate income, as the new projects should have benefited domestic real estate developers.
But experts have said that financial gains from hosting large sporting evens are notoriously hard to predict, particularly given the current volatility of the world markets - Montreal will this year make the last payment on a $6.2 billion deficit 30 years after it hosted the Olympics Games.
Despite the barrage of criticism, the organizers of the games remain optimistic. Kalmadi has said that that he will provide world-class infrastructure on time, as has Union Sports Minister, MS Gill. "It's like organizing an Indian marriage. This is India and we do it like this," he said recently.
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