The Commonwealth Games (CWG) Federation President Mike Fennel was disappointed with the slow progress of the commonwealth games venue and the infrastructure, facilities etc. This woke up the authorities from their comfortable leather seats in their Air conditioned rooms and speed up the work in the scorching sun.
I remember watching in television, Suresh kalmadi, the President of the Indian Olympics Association exalted after Delhi defeated Hamilton (Canada) to host the CWG 2010. Much promise had been shown then. In India, promises do not last long, a trend set by the politicians. Suresh kalmadi showed his lack of professionalism as he was not present when the delegates from different participating countries had come for inspection of the facilities. He was involved in his personal work. He has to understand that the country pride is at stake and not repeat such acts. . Many of those delegates present felt, the work was “behind schedule”.
In India, there is a problem of all talk and no action. The authorities should have started their work on time so as to avoid the current embarrassing situation. Delhi last hosted an event of this magnitude in1982 when India hosted the Asian Games. The commonwealth games are one notch above the Asian games and one notch below the Olympics. It has to live up to its expectations.
The 11day event (3-14 October 2010) is the most expensive CWG ever. The total estimated budget was a whopping US $ 1.6 billion as compared to the Manchester CWG (US $ 420 million), Melbourne CWG (US $ 1.1 Billion). The budget does not include infrastructure development, airports, roads etc.
The CWG is bound to attract a lot of foreign tourists. According to the ministry of tourism “there is a need of around 9500 hotel rooms” out of which only 4000 rooms have been completed. The remaining rooms are to meet the deadline of March 2010. I won’t be surprised if the Delhi development flats (DDA) are used to provide rooms to the tourist if the deadlines are not met. Anything can happen, after all it is India.
It has been said that out of the 19 venues 13 are yet to be completed. The recent delegates visit to these venues raised some difficult questions to be answered. The games village was liked and appreciated by all and sundry. They even compared the games village with the last two Olympics and said it was "even better" than the last olympics at Beijing. It was flattering to digest these words.
The Delhi CWG has been labeled as environment friendly games. Is it so? I don’t agree as the games village has been set up in the banks of river Yamuna. It is a earthquake prone area. Do the delegates know about it? It also violated the Delhi high court verdict which denies any encroachment on Yamuna flood plains. As if this is not enough, they even cut down 100 trees or more to put up a badminton and squash courts at Siri Fort complex .I wonder how it is environment friendly. It is only on paper and files.
The CWG, if hosted properly would introduce India in the international sports scenario. Inspite of so many drawbacks, I have full faith in the authorities that the CWG would be an event to remember for not only the Indians but also for the rest of the world. It would indeed be very apt to host successful CWG amidst all the terrorism and the recession the world is currently encountering.
I am extremely sure that the CWG will be hosted in our Indian soil (Delhi) in its scheduled date, but the quality of the games is a primary concern . The top athletes of the world have to participate during the games. The likes of Ussain Bolt, Tyson gay cannot be missed. This might be the only chance for the Indian fans to see these athletes in action live in front of their eyes.
It is the success of the games which determines India’s bid for 2020 Olympics. It will be a litmus test.
No comments:
Post a Comment