DMRC’s Airport Express project delayed?

India may be promising that it can deliver a world class city ahead of the Commonwealth Games, but one showpiece is likely to get delayed.

The Airport Express project being jointly developed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and Reliance Infra, it seems, is way behind schedule.

The special metro train will zip you from the heart of Delhi to the airport in just 22 minutes, a journey that normally takes more than an hour.

But players and visitors coming for this year's Commonwealth Games in October may miss the ride on this metro as DMRC may miss its completion deadline of September 2010. The Metro is being constructed under a unique model.

The DMRC will first complete all the civil works including stations, tunnel and viaduct and then hand it over to Reliance Infra, who will run it for a period of 30 years.
Infra is also responsible for laying tracks and operational equipment and completing the station, which will be modeled on airport terminals.

But the big worry for the government is that DMRC has not handed over the civil structure to Reliance Infra yet for fitting out. Even stations haven’t been given out yet for fitment and it’s this 3 to 4 month delay, which can cost the project dearly.

NDTV learnt that there has been a flurry of communication between Reliance Infra and DMRC, where the company has raised apprehension that at the current pace of work it may not be able to make the system operational before the Commonwealth Games.

While DMRC has not yet responded to NDTV's queries, Reliance Infra has refused to comment on the issue ...But a worried government is looking to expedite the project, which it considers a showpiece for the Commonwealth Games.

Anju Bobby George pulls out of Commonwealth Games

India's medal chances in athletics at the Commonwealth Games in October received a blow on Friday with ace long jumper Anju Bobby George pulling out of the mega event.

The former World No.4, who has not competed since the Beijing Olympics, told TOI here that she will be skipping the whole of 2010 and hopes to return to action early next year. "I wanted to take part and win before my fans in Delhi. But I won't be able to compete due to personal reasons and I have already informed the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) officials," Anju said without revealing the details.

Asked if fans would be able to see her back in action again, as a comeback from a two-and-a-half-year sabbatical is difficult, Anju was very confident about her return. "No way I am quitting the sport as I still feel I can compete in one more Olympics. I'll try and be ready for the London Games in 2012. And If I compete there, I'll surely not go as a spectator. I'm sure with all my experience and with the help of Bobby (husband and coach), I can make a comeback," the 32-year-old Customs officer added.

Anju first hogged the limelight winning the bronze medal in the CWG in 2002 and then in the Busan Asian Games where she clinched the gold. The next year she created history in Paris becoming the first Indian to win a medal (bronze) in the World Athletics championship. In 2005, Anju was again basking in glory after winning the silver in the World Athletics final, an achievement rated by many as the high point of her career.

However, Anju's best performance came in the Athens Olympics when she led the field in the first round after touching down at 6.83 metres. In the end, the Indian couldn't improve further and settled for the sixth place.

Bricks for Bread and Milk

In New Delhi there are upwards of 100 construction projects underway in preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games scheduled to take place from Oct. 4 to 13.

These projects -- ranging from several new stadiums to a new international airport terminal -- are drawing vast numbers of migrant workers from all over India to provide the extra labor needed. Contractors, already behind schedule, are taking advantage of lax labor laws and coercing their employees to bring their children to work alongside them, promising payments of bread and milk. Above an Indian girl carries a brick at a construction site in front of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Feb. 3.

England number one targets Commonwealth Games medals

Housnlow's Rajiv Ouseph, England’s number one men’s singles player, says this weekend’s English National Badminton Championships could be an important stepping stone en route to October's Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

The 23-year-old is top seed for the men’s singles at the Championships, which got under way today at Manchester Velodrome.

Rajiv, ranked 24th in the world, is aiming to win his third successive title - if successful, he would be the first person to achieve the feat since Darren Hall in 1991.

“It’s not something I’m going to think about much, I’m just going to take each match as it comes,” said Rajiv.

“The English Nationals are a good opportunity to test yourself against the other players in the country.

“There’s a bit of pressure, because you’re expected to win, but it’s good to have that pressure sometimes.

“We’ve had a period of hard training over the winter and I’m feeling good going into the championships.”

Rajiv, who trains at the Badminton England’s National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, has his heart set on a place in the England team to compete at the Commonwealth Games.

Subject to selection, he thinks he would have a good chance of winning a medal in the men’s singles in India – despite the likely presence of Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, current world number one and reigning Commonwealth Games champion.

“He’s just won a couple of big tournaments but, if you’re in the other half of the draw, realistically I think medalling would be quite achievable," said Rajiv, a member of England’s bronze medal winning badminton team at the Bendigo Commonwealth Youth Games in 2004.

“The Commonwealth Games are definitely up there for me. Playing at the Games would definitely be an experience for me.

"It’s just below the Olympics and it’s a multi-sport event - they don’t come around very often.”

Rajiv is coached by two-time national champion Aamir Ghaffar, who represented England in the men’s singles at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, finishing fourth.

England have won the Commonwealth Games men’s singles gold only once – that went to Stephen Baddeley in Edinburgh in the1986 Games.

England finished second to Malaysia in the badminton medals table at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games with two golds, a silver and two bronzes.

No plots yet for many displaced by Commonwealth Games, Metro

They were promised land in resettlement colonies before they were displaced from their slum clusters in various parts of the Indian capital in 2004 to make way for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Metro rail projects.

But it has been six long years and a decent roof over their heads that they could call home still evades hundreds of families. Many of them are living in makeshift shelters in the resettlement colonies, with little access to sanitation and healthcare.

According to data compiled by an NGO Hazard Centre, at least 35,000 families were displaced from Yumuna Pushta, Banuwal Nagar in Saraswati Vihar, Pragati Market, J Block in Ashok Vihar and Kela Godam in Shalimar Bagh.

Currently, 16,500 families are residing in the Bawana Resettlement Colony in outer Delhi launched six years ago, reveals the data by the NGO.

"Of the 16,500 families, at least 3,000 families haven't got the land and are being forced to live under plastic sheet-covered houses in inhuman conditions in the Bawana colony," Duno Roy, director of Hazards Centre that takes up issues related to factory workers, told IANS.

"At least 2,500 plots are still lying vacant with the DDA in the Bawana resettlement colony but the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is stonewalling the land allotment procedure," Roy alleges.

Many families living in the hutments allege the area has become a breeding ground for serious diseases due to poor sanitation facilities, with no access to clean drinking water and healthcare.

"In the last five years, some 150 slum clusters were demolished in Delhi, housing approximately 100,000 families," says Raghuraj Singh of Sajha Manch, an NGO working for displaced people.

At the spots from where the families were displaced, the government proposed hotels
, commercial, residential spaces and parks - mostly connected to the Commonwealth Games.

In Banuwal Nagar and Ashok Nagar, a four-star hotel and a park were proposed while a residential complex was to be built in Mandawali in east Delhi.

Urmila, who was displaced in 2006 from Savan Park in Ashok Vihar, says the DDA has told her there is no land left that may be given to her.

"DDA had given us the land slip in 2006 before demolishing our slum, but now instead of providing us the plot, they are giving excuses," says Urmila who is now living in the resettlement colony.

Taj Mohammed, who was displaced from Kela Godam in Shalimar Bagh in 2005, told IANS: "I was issued a demand letter by the DDA for land allotment in July 2005 after submitting a demand draft of Rs.5,000, but still I am nowhere near getting the promised land in Bawana."

Of the 3,000 homeless families in Bawana, 750 have got "demand letters" from the DDA - promising the plots - but are yet to get the land.

Neemo Dhar, a DDA spokesperson, told IANS the agency has nothing to do with the 750 demand letters issued to those evicted and it is the duty of the Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation and the Delhi government to give them land.

But Roy argues that Bawana resettlement was the responsibility of the DDA and both the Delhi government and the DDA were passing the buck at the cost of families in distress.

"In a meeting with Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna Oct 1 last year, it was decided that the DDA engineer would discuss the possibility of a community centre and a school in Bawana with the chief engineer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), but there is no progress on that front," alleges Roy.

Mohammed Usama, a member of the Hazards Centre, says: "Residents of Bawana take out protest marches in front of DDA's office in Pitampura every now and then - only to be told that their problem will be solved soon.