Indian PM determined for Games' success

India's Prime Minister has appointed a panel of officials to oversee the Commonwealth Games venues in New Delhi beset by delays and allegations of widespread corruption.

On August 14, less than 50 days from the Games' October 3 inauguration, Manmohan Singh said "no stone would be left unturned" to make the fortnight-long event a success even as it reeled under daily revelations by government watchdog committees and the media of inflated contracts being awarded with impunity.

But the panic gripping Singh's administration is that little seems to be in place for the Games, billed as the "coming-out" party for an economically buoyant India.

Large parts of Delhi over which the Games would be spread resemble building sites with huge dug-outs and piles of debris that render the city's normally traffic-choked roads even more unnegotiable in the ongoing monsoon downpour.

Many of the 11 main stadiums and 26 practice venues remain unfinished as do the athletes' village and related sites in the building of which nearly 42 labourers have died due appalling working conditions. Construction work by the incessantly scrapping agencies involved in the Games was continuing, leaving no time for either any trial runs to resolve inevitable glitches or to provide practice sessions for local athletes, despite the event having been awarded to India in 2003.

An indoor shooting range inaugurated two months ago suffered extensive damage after rain this month while the false ceiling of another sports complex was demolished in the same downpour necessitating, in some cases, entire floor replacements. Other sporting venues have sprung leaks.

And to make matters worse, federal weathermen have predicted heavy rain for the Games' duration in October.

Numerous unfinished infrastructure projects such as landscaping and approach roads were even unnerving Organisation Committee officials, prompting them in many cases to abandon them until after the Games.

Singh, meanwhile, has also ordered investigations into the graft charges.

The Central Vigilance Commission, the federal government's anti-corruption regulator, has identified at least 16 projects associated with the Games where financial irregularities are suspected.

The event, involving 71 nations, has also emerged as the costliest Commonwealth Games ever. Its original infrastructure and organising budget of US$2 billion ($2.8 billion) has risen more than 17.5 times.

Three senior officials have already been suspended over financial irregularities and new revelations of contractual wrongdoing emerge daily in newspapers and on TV.

Graft is suspected not only in awarding contracts but in the hiring or buying of equipment such as air conditioners, treadmills and even toilet and tissue paper.

Singh's decision was seen as a direct slight to Suresh Kalmadi, the head of the Games organising committee who, during the past few weeks, has faced strident calls from the media, sporting personalities and the Opposition to resign amid the scandals associated with the event.

For the first time in four decades, the Queen will miss the Games, sending Prince Charles as her representative instead.

Many in India are questioning whether the Queen is wary of inaugurating an event with the real potential of being an embarrassment.