50 Days, that’s precisely the time Delhi has in its hands before the Commonwealth Games. May be today I should be writing about the eagerness in Delhites about the approaching games, but unfortunately today I’m being forced to write about the shoddiness shown by Delhi in preparing for the games. What was to be Delhi’s tryst with destiny is soon turning out to be its hour of shame. Now the question to be asked is not whether Delhi will host the games successfully or not, but rather who’s responsible for this mess created in the name of Commonwealth Games 2010.
Seven years back to this date India won the bid to host the 19th Commonwealth Games. Seven years is a long time to prepare for the games given the fact that Delhi need not construct the stadiums rather renovate and upgrade them. But with a day more than 7 weeks to go Delhi’s preparedness lay in shambles. Today Delhi resembles anything but the capital of one of the fastest growing economies of the world and certainly not like the host city of Commonwealth Games. It has its hands filled with problems ranging from missing deadlines in the completion of the games infrastructure to giving its citizens a harrowing time in the name of organizing the games so much so that what was supposed to be a boon for us Delhites is now turning a bane.
As per a latest estimate released by the Sports Ministry the games will cost the country around ` 1200 crores, but this does not include the spending of Delhi govt. and various agencies like the Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi etc on beautification and infrastructural projects. An independent report suggests that by the time of culmination of the games the country would have spent anywhere between ` 45000 and ` 50000 crores in organizing the games. At the time of bidding the budgeted expenditure was shown at an estimation of ` 1200 crores and at the time of the cabinet approval of the first games budget the budgeted expenditure was ` 3566 crores. And how it escalated by leaps and bounds, well the facts are before all of us I don't want to any further. Now with 50 days left for the games the stadiums are not ready, the athletes’ village is far from completion and the Organizing Committee has not yet appointed a caterer to feed 11000 sportspersons coming for the games. With things so tawdry it comes as no surprise seeing the star athletes pull out of the games.
We Indians are a funny lot and keep the word ‘jugaad’ close to our heart. May be at the end everything will fall to place and Delhi with its ‘jugaads’ will be able to put up a good show but today the competency of we Indians, in organizing events of such scale lies bare before the world. It will take India perhaps another century before it even starts dreaming of hosting something by the name of the Olympics…..
