Construction Deadlines Loom for India

Residents of New Delhi are anxiously awaiting the monsoon season, which brings with it relief from the summer heat, but the coming rain could spell further trouble for Commonwealth Games organizers.

With a June 30 deadline for completion of the Games venues fast approaching, the mountainous piles of debris around unfinished stadiums, dug-up roads and on-going Metro construction work presents a gloomy picture in the Indian capital.

The 12-day sporting extravaganza involving 71 nations from the former British empire is already the most expensive Commonwealth Games in history, with an infrastructure and organizing budget of $2 billion. The previous event in Melbourne, Australia, in 2006 cost $1.1 billion.

Monsoon rains are expected to hit the city around July 1, causing major problems for organizers as they race against time to be ready to host the event, which begins on Oct. 3.

The Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, which hosts the opening and closing ceremonies, track and field events, the swimming complex and the cycling velodrome, is causing the most concern.

The Commonwealth Games Federation has repeatedly said more delays would mean the venues would not be tested properly before the competition begins.

“It does not take rocket science to know that monsoon hits Delhi sometime in late June or early July, and it has a major slowdown effect on construction,” a Delhi government official told the Times of India last week.

Local organizers remain confident their plans will not be washed away by the annual torrential rain, which reduces much of the city to a quagmire for weeks at a stretch.

“There is no doubt everything will be ready on time, whatever anyone may say,” organizing committee secretary-general Lalit Bhanot said.

Jaipal Reddy, the senior government minister overseeing the construction, last week repeated pledges that the June 30 deadline would be met.

Not everyone shares that optimism, least of all Delhi’s harried residents, who negotiate their way every day through a rubble-filled city that often resembles a huge building site.

“They must be six months behind schedule, if not more,” bank executive Sanjaya Gupta said. “Perhaps they could get the Games postponed until next year.”

The latest indication of trouble came from city officials who leaked information to the media that a four-kilometer elevated road between the main stadium and the athletes’ village would not be finished before mid-August.