Slaving for the Commonwealth Games: The child labourers put to work building a stadium in India's capital

At an age when children in this country are either at home playing or starting out in school these youngsters in India are putting in a day's work on a building site.

Struggling to hold up shovels which are as tall as them, they are helping to build drainage works in front of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Dehli in time for the Commonwealth Games which takes place this autumn.

They shovel stones into baskets which are then carried away by other children as their parents work nearby on the same construction project.


Parents who bring their children to work on the site have been promised extra bonuses such as money for bread and milk for their children, on top of their normal pay.

Children and parents also receive an additional meal if both of them work on the site.

The Games are due to be held in the Indian capital from October 3-14, but concerns remain over construction of its sporting and transport infrastructure.

The sheer scale of the project has drawn an enormous population of migrant workers from all over India.

And now it seems children have also been drafted in to get the stadium and its surrounding area finished on time.

This week the High Court of Delhi has sought a response from the Government over the alleged failure to provide all the benefits of labour laws to workers involved in construction work for the coming Commonwealth Games.



Workers are being paid below the minimum wage in order to complete these projects whilst also being forced to live and work under sub-standard conditions.

The Commonwealth Games Federation has repeatedly expressed concern about the slow pace of work for the Games, which will involve 6,000 athletes drawn from the former British Empire competing in 17 sports.

Federation president Mike Fennell said in December he was distressed by a report by the CGF evaluation commission that two major venues would not be ready until June, barely three months before the opening ceremony.

The commission said that work on the Nehru stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics programme will be held, and the swimming complex, was way behind schedule.

Report shows Yamuna’s dirty faece

We all know Yamuna water is not fit for bathing, let alone drinking. But the latest report from the Central Pollution Control Board, sure to raise a stink before the Commonwealth Games in the capital, says the river is so full of excreta that its water resembles that of a drain.

According to stipulated standards, water can be made potable with treatment if fecal coliform is less than 500 per 100ml and it’s fit for bathing if the number is less than 5,000 per 100ml. According to CPCB’s 10-month-long monitoring of the Yamuna at Nizamuddin, the lowest level of fecal coliform in the water was 4.4 lakh per 100ml, measured on May 4, 2009. That’s almost 100 times above the level considered safe for bathing.

Fecal coliform are bacteria that originate in excreta. Coliform levels reached as high as 1.79 crore per 100ml on February 3. Drinking water without conventional treatment but after use of disinfectant should not have a coliform count in excess of 50 per 100ml and must have a minimum DO of 6mg per litre.

Worse, the dissolved oxygen (DO) content of Yamuna water was ‘‘nil’’ on all the testing dates, though the water at Palla on all these days had a DO level of over 4 milligrams per litre, which is the standard. Palla is where the river enters Delhi, embarking on its most polluted 22-km stretch.

The monitoring took place between January 6 and October 6 last year, according to the latest report submitted to the Supreme Court by CPCB through counsel Vijay Panjwani. Even at Palla the water quality could not be termed potable because of the high level of fecal coliform. Except for the test results on September 2, 2009, when the fecal coliform was 2,900 per 100ml, in all other months it was above the stipulated 5,000 level. The highest coliform count recorded at Palla was 43,000, on July 7.

The alarming rise in the fecal coliform content in the Yamuna by the time it reaches Nizamuddin was mainly because of the number of drains that join it, throwing in untreated sewage and industrial effluent.

‘‘The total pollution load discharged through 25 drains in river Yamuna during the ten rounds of monitoring from January to October was between 174 tonnes per day to 330 tonnes per day,’’ CPCB said.

‘‘Although the drains are meant to carry storm water and tail-end discharge as part of the river basin system, at present the drains are being used to carry treated and untreated sewage and industrial effluent apart from storm water,’’ said the politely worded CPCB report.

CPCB is monitoring the water quality of the river at five locations — Palla, Madanpur Khadar, Okhla, the meeting point of Shahadra drain and Nizamuddin — along with 25 drains, in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court and has submitted results of 140 rounds of monitoring since 1999.

15 days to go: Still yes, no, yes, no…

The Commonwealth Shooting Championship, a test event for the Commonwealth Games, is in danger.

The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to stay the January 15 order of a lower court, which declared the National Rifle Association of India's (NRAI) composition invalid. The NRAI had moved the higher court seeking an immediate stay of the order in view of the Championship, scheduled from February 17-28.

Justice Reva Khetrapal, however, refused to interfere with the lower court order for the time being and adjourned the NRAI's appeal for further hearing on March 3.

Justice Khetrapal also sought the response of Raju Soni, a life member of NRAI, who had approached the lower court challenging the re-election of Digvijay Singh and Baljit Singh Sethi as president and secretary general of NRAI respectively.

The lower court had said the NRAI president and secretary general could not continue as they had flouted norms by holding on to their respective posts, despite the completion of two terms. The NRAI submitted before the High Court that an urgent injunction was essential for holding the Commonwealth Shooting Championship.

A 42-member strong team (25 men and 17 women) will represent India at the event, to be held at the Dr Karni Singh Range here. Shooters from 14 countries will be in action during the 12-day long competition, which is also a test event for the redesigned range.

In his petition, Soni had alleged that the secretary general had been in office since June 1985, continuously for six terms, and the president, elected in 1999, was still occupying the office after the completion of two terms. “The secretary general is running NRAI as his personal fiefdom and quashes any dissent,” alleged Soni.

The court noted that according to Rule 13 in the mandate of NRAI, the maximum continuous period to an office by an elected member is of two terms.

Reacting to Monday's developments, Prabir Krishn joint secretary, Sports Ministry told HT: “The government will immediately write to the Indian Olympic Association and ask them to form an ad-hoc committee for shooting. The committee will organise the Commonwealth Championship.” A dejected Sethi said: “Hoga, hoga, nahin hoga, nahin hoga, kya kar sakte hain. (If it happens, fine, if it doesn't, what can we do).”

Govt clears Rs22 crore for street-scaping around Commonwealth venues

Looking to beautify the surroundings and have good roads around Commonwealth Games's venues across the city, the Delhi government today cleared a proposal worth Rs22 crore for undertaking street-scaping works.

The proposal was cleared today in an Expenditure Finance Committee meeting presided over by Delhi finance minister AK Walia.

Talking to reporters after the meeting here, Walia said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will undertake street-scaping of roads around the games venues for which an amount of Rs21.95 crore has been sanctioned.

The work of street-scaping on Jagannath Marg and Lodi Road will cost Rs3.40 crore and Rs18.55 crore respectively.

The street-scaping works will also be undertaken around Thyagraj Stadium, Nehru stadium, Siri Fort Sports complex, RK Khanna Lawn Tennis stadium, Dr Karni Singh stadium, Yamuna Sports complex and important sections of the Ring Road, the minister added.

"The agencies concerned have been asked to implement all basic ingredients of the project with due care and commitment as the facilities to be developed would become a permanent feature in the capital," Walia said.

Commonwealth conundrum

How relevant are the Commonwealth Games to our top athletes these days? On a scale of importance, it would probably figure at the very bottom to the majority of athletic's big names, but to the many others it's a golden opportunity to be grasped.

Liz Lynch McColgan 1986My first proper recollection of a Commonwealth Games, which I watched avidly, was the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh which I saw a young Liz Lynch (later McColgan) wow the home crowd with victory in the 10,000m. (I even still have somewhere the Commemorative £2 coin that was minted specially for the Games). Liz's win was my abiding memory of those Games and proves how a young star could grasp the opportunity to make their name on the world stage - even if that world consists of a gathering of nations whose athletes are considered not as competitive as the world or European stage.

I'm considering the Commonwealth conundrum after hearing that Britain's world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis is going to skip the Commonwealth Games in India in October. Ennis says her focus is to peak for the European Championships in July and then concentrate on her winter training programme. This gathering of Commonwealth nations clearly doesn't warrant the World Champion turning up in an attempt to gain Commonwealth gold - a shame, but nonetheless understandable for an event that just seems to be less and less relevant for the majority of our top quality athletes.

I'm sure there'll be plenty more high profile names who will take a similar course of action and give this little jolly in India a miss, and then there's probably a fair few for whom security concerns will prompt a non-attendance too.

So, it's time for some of our lesser known athletes to step up to the plate and use the Commonwealths as a stepping stone onto bigger and better things, much like young Liz did 24 years ago.

Rs 22cr cleared by govt for street-scaping around CWG venues

Looking to beautify the surroundings and have good roads around Commonwealth Games venues across the city, the Delhi government today cleared a proposal worth Rs 22 crore for undertaking street-scaping works.

The proposal was cleared today in an Expenditure Finance Committee meeting presided over by Delhi finance minister A K Walia.

Talking to reporters after the meeting here, Walia said the MCD will undertake street-scaping of roads around the games venues for which an amount of Rs 21.95 crore has been sanctioned.

The work of street-scaping on Jagannath Marg and Lodi Road will cost Rs 3.40 crore and Rs 18.55 crore respectively.

The street-scaping works will also be undertaken around Thyagraj Stadium, Nehru stadium, Siri Fort Sports complex, RK Khanna Lawn Tennis stadium, Dr. Karni Singh stadium, Yamuna Sports complex and important sections of the Ring Road, the Minister added.

"The agencies concerned have been asked to implement all basic ingredients of the project with due care and commitment as the facilities to be developed would become a permanent feature in the Capital," Walia said.

PETA seeks ban on serving beef during C'Wealth Games

An animal rights group on Monday demanded that beef and other non-vegetarian items should not be served to athletes and delegates during the Commonwealth Games in keeping with the country's compassionate culture.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has written a letter to Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi opposing serving of non-vegetarian food items during the event slated in October.

"Refraining from serving beef would be respectful to the millions of people who revere cows...serving only vegan food would show respect for people of all faiths and would demonstrate respect for all animals and public health."

The group's senior campaign coordinator, Nikunj Sharma asserted that it would also show the compassionate culture and heritage of India, the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi, Mahavir and Buddha.

"The production of meat, eggs and dairy products also wreaks havoc on the environment, being an important cause of carbon emissions," PETA said quoting a United Nations study that the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars, trucks, trains and planes in the world combined.

Former BJP president Rajnath Singh has already written to Kalmadi that his party is opposed to beef on the menu.

"Cow is considered sacred in India. This thought has been integral to our cultural ethos for ages. No wonder, even the founding fathers of our Constitution also advocated a ban on cow slaughter," Singh had said in his letter.