Will the Commonwealth Games 2010 leave New Delhi?

WITH HARDLY two years to go for the Commonwealth Games 2010, doubts have arisen as to whether the Games would move to some other location since the work is not progressing satisfactorily as per the Committee. The four-yearly Games featuring 71 teams from the Commonwealth countries are due to be held in the Indian capital of New Delhi from October 3 to 14, 2010.

The dispute is regarding the location of the games village. It is to be built on the banks of the river Yamuna, where the construction is likely to destroy the river bed, as claimed by environmentalists. Environmental groups protested and raised the issue with the high court and successfully got a probe setup by the Delhi High Court to investigate. Findings are still on-going.

If the problems regarding the construction of the games village are not resolved on immediate priority and with less than two years left for the games, there might not be enough time to relocate and build the facilities to house the 8,500 athletes and officials so late into the schedule. Even the new cycling velodrome construction is being delayed due to tender issues currently.

The committee headed by Austin Sealy, the chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation co-ordination committee, will undertake another inspection of the venues in March and reassess the situation. However, the Indian Olympic Association president, Suresh Kalmadi is much more optimistic and has assured the media and the Commonwealth Games organising committee that the venues will be completed on time.

With elections in Delhi on the anvil, there might be apprehensions in the minds of the organising committee that in case there is a change of guard in the administration, many things might get bogged down in still more controversies. That has been our tradition – whenever a new setup comes to power, it tries to undo the deeds of the predecessors.

It might be recalled that India had held the prestigious Asian Games in 1982 and the capital got the Asiad village apart from a fleet of sleek buses nicknamed as Asiad buses which can even now be seen on selected routes. The administrators of 1982 were tough ones – it was the era of Indira Gandhi and the television switched over to the colour mode to transmit live the games into the living rooms. The Commonwealth Games is a matter of prestige for the country and already the metro rail is a gift that Delhites would appreciate on the occasion. But a lot more has to be done. Since the honour of the country is at stake, people should rise above petty party politics and join hands to clear all hurdles.

Most importantly, no one should create impediments just to promote his cause and gain media coverage.

More Hotel Rooms In Delhi by 2010 Commonwealth Games

The tourism ministry will form a panel to suggest measures to increase the availability of hotel rooms before the 2010 Commonwealth Games,which will be held here.

Based on the report of the panel, the ministry will come out with schemes. The government is expecting one-lakh visitors at the games.

"The whole focus is to create additional accommodation facilities and ensure that there is enough room for all. Besides, short supply has been driving up room rates, which we need to counter," a senior tourism ministry official said.

At present, there are only about 11,000 rooms in star-category hotels in the National Capital Region, against the ministry's estimate of 30,000 more rooms during the games.

The official said that going by the present trend, only 2,000 more rooms would be available.

The government has given a five-year tax holiday to two-, three- and four-star hotels and convention centres in Delhi, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad.

Besides, upgradation and renovation of existing hotel rooms will be done, the official said.

Attaching high priority to the safety of players and tourists, the government has decided to train 30,000 volunteers.

The ministry has also introduced a short training scheme to sensitise the youth.

The ministry has also requested the hotels to upgrade the infrastructure and be ready for the games, the official said, adding that the Haryana government is in the process of upgrading the tourism complexes run by its tourism department.

Indian delays could hand Australia Commonwealth Games

Australia could be on a new list to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games, after India was told it could miss out because of a dispute over the construction of the athletes' village.

The village being built on the banks of the Yamuna river has been embroiled in a legal tussle after environmental groups protested the construction would ruin the river bed.

With only two years to go, work on the site has not even begun, and the International Commonwealth Games organising committee has told India to urgently resolve the matter, or lose the Games.

The Delhi High Court has asked an environmental expert to probe if the village that is to house 8,500 athletes and officials should be built on the site.

Austin Sealy, the chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation coordination committee, said after a routine inspection of the venues that he was concerned by the ongoing dispute.

"Any change, at this late stage, to the Games village arrangements would seriously jeopardise India's hosting of the Games," he said in a statement.

"The organising committee has been urged to have the matter resolved as a matter of urgency."

Mr Sealy said he was equally worried by the delay in starting work on a new velodrome.

"Less than two years is left for the Games, but construction work on the velodrome has not yet started," he said.

"It is a matter of concern for us. We have urged the organising committee to do everything in their power to start the work."

Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi, who heads the Games organising committee, played down Mr Sealy's concerns and promised that all venues would be completed in time.

"Work is going on at the athletes' village because the High Court has not stopped the construction," Kalmadi said.

"The tender for the cycling velodrome will be issued next month and construction will start by December 15 and a world-class facility will be ready on time."

Delays in construction have already forced next year's world badminton championships to be shifted from New Delhi to the southern city of Hyderabad.

Mr Sealy's committee will undertake another inspection of the venues in March.

Is Delhi ready for Commonwealth Games?

The Olympic fever is over, for now. After Beijing, the action moves to London for the 2012 games. But before that, New Delhi is to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010. While Beijing Olympics showcased years of preparations which translated into an impressive visual treat and jaw-dropping examples of cutting-edge infrastructure, the level of the Capital's preparedness on the other hand for an event that is barely two years away is worrying to say the least. With images of Beijing fresh in everybody's mind, Times City decided to do a reality check on the competition and training venues for the 2010 Games in the city which will see as many as 8,000 athletes participating.

Overall responsibility of the Games rests with the Sports Authority of India (SAI). CPWD, the consultant appointed by SAI is workingagainst a December 2009 deadline to renovate Games venues.

Times City began its reality check with Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, venue of the opening and closing ceremonies. It will also host events like athletics, lawn bowling and weightlifting.

Just 20% of the required work has been completed in the main stadium. CPWD has removed the four giant lights that were a city landmark for decades to make way for a roof over the spectators' gallery as per international norms. The benches too are to be replaced by plush chairs to accommodate as many as 66,000 spectators. There will also be special centres for players, VIPs and media.

CEO Of The Commonwealth Games Federation Mike Hooper confident Games will go ahead in Delhi

The CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation, the New Zealander Mike Hooper, remains optimistic that the 2010 games will go ahead as scheduled in Delhi in 2010.

An environmental report on the affects construction of the athletes village will have on the Yamuna River is now before the courts.

Hooper, who is in India, says although the courts are involved, construction actually hasn't been halted.

However he says with 2 years until the games take place in October 2010, any attempt to alter plans now would seriously jepordise the games.... and they have taken the issue up with the Indian government.....

Nearing deadline for Commonwealth Games, government agencies started to get required infrastructure

With nearing of the deadline for Commonwealth Games, government agencies too have started changing gears to get the required infrastructure in place. On one hand the emphasis is being laid on upgrading and re-surfacing main roads of the city, while on the other a lot of efforts are being made to ensure that the internal roads of Gurgaon remain problem free. The developmental agencies have been initiating several projects that are aimed towards having smooth ride in and out of the city.

Giving information about its initiative, Additional Chief Engineer of HUDA Amreek Singh said, "Works are going on in eight different roads of the city. By March 31, 2009, all the repair works will be finished." But, while the repair work is visible in old Gurgaon, new Gurgaon is yet to witness road repair work. When asked, HUDA administrator G Anupama said, "We are giving equal priority to the entire city. The repair time may vary, but there would be no compromise as far as funds are concerned. We will simply change the look of all city roads."

According to HUDA sources a tender of Rs 30 cores has already been invited recently for the repair works of internal colony roads of the various HUDA sectors that includes major intersections, dividing roads and the main roads that carry heavy traffic. The scheduled time period for completion of the work is three months from the dates of award with one year maintenance period from the date of completion. It was also informed that the tenders have also been invited for other roads as well.

While the announcement has come as pleasant news for the city residents, people in the city still have questions regarding completion of the project. Ashok Gupta, a resident of DLF-I couldn't resist from going away from apprehensions, "Although it is good news for the entire city, but I think it is just another cosmetic exercise on the part of HUDA to cover up its other failures."

Echoing a similar concerns, Kiran Kandpal, resident of New Palam Vihar said, "Equal importance should be given roads of the entire city. Besides, people should stay alert of the quality of material being used for the construction and repair purposes. The contractors should be held responsible for the maintenance even after one year period of time, as stated in the tender."

Residents of the the city also demanding that work for the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road should be given priority, for which a tender of Rs 179 lakhs has been opened. "Even the storm water drainage system should be strengthened for successful completion of road repair works," added another resident. Demands also came up from the residents for face lifting of the roads by way of landscaping on their both sides and removal of encroachments.

"I don't think that only repair works will be enough to solve the crumbling road conditions. The root problems leading to sich conditions should also be taken care of before claiming a pat," added Ashok Gupta. Noteworthy here is the chief secretary's (of Haryana government) recent direction to the officers to complete works within the stipulated time frame. Whether the recommendation materialises or not, is for the time to see!