Unfinished work, monsoon rains, extended deadlines and corruption controversies have led skeptics to write off the next Commonwealth Games in India as an organisational disaster.
But with two months left, India’s top sports officials have assured Canada and the 70 participating teams that they are ready to host the “best ever” Games.
State of the art stadia, foolproof security and modern day transportation systems will be showcased for the world to see, the government and the organising committee of the Games have promised as the scramble continues to finish all the work in time for the Oct 3-14 event.
This is the biggest international sporting event that India will host so far. The last big event they had organised was the Asian Games way back in 1982.
Canada plans to send a team of about 380 athletes and officials to the Commonwealth Games in India. The Delhi Games represent the most significant preparation for Canadian summer sports athletes in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympics in London.
Canada finished third overall at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, with a total of 87 medals.
Last week, the nations participating in the Commonwealth Games were again assured that the Oct 3-14 mega event will be safe and secure, by  Delhi Police.
“We assured them of a safe and secure environment during the event,” Neeraj Kumar, special commissioner (Administration), told reporters of the visit of a 105-member delegation from 19 countries, including Canada,  that attended an International Security Administrator’s Conference around the venues.
The conference was meant to inform the participating nations about the security preparedness for the Commonwealth Games.
“Security arrangements for the events scheduled at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and other venues, security arrangements for the Games Village, security for the athletes and team officials, transportation facilities and security and management of Games-generic traffic were discussed and shared with the delegation,” Neeraj Kumar said.
The delegation included 28 members from Britain, 25 from Australia, 13 from Canada, seven from New Zealand and four each from Singapore and South Africa.
Neeraj Kumar said the delegation members were satisfied with the security arrangements for the games. The delegation was taken to the Games Village where a demonstration of vehicle access control devices like boom barriers, tire killers and road blockers, as also pedestrian access devices like flap barriers were exhibited.
“The security systems exhibited were appreciated,” the officer said.
Although questions are being raised about delays in the completion of games projects, cost overruns and deals that have attracted adverse media attention, the organising committee is confident of putting up a good show for the Games for which over US$3 billion has been allocated by the government.
“We are fully ready to host the Games successfully,” Lalit Bhanot, secretary general of the CWG organising committee, told IANS.
“All our functional areas are fully prepared and in the next two months there will be regular dress rehearsals. I am confident in the next 45 days we will address all the issues that are getting highlighted now. I can say the country will be proud of the conduct of the Games,” Bhanot said.
The Games will feature 17 disciplines to be held at six venue clusters and five stand-alone stadia in the metropolis of 17 million people, one of the most crowded in the world. The sale of tickets started in June and 1.7 million tickets are expected to be sold before the Games begin.
This week, the organising committee also informally moved into all the stadia -- Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Delhi University Sports Complex, Thyagaraj Stadium, Siri Fort Sports Complex, Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, Talkatora Stadium, SPM Swimming Pool Complex, R.K. Khanna Tennis Complex, and Yamuna Sports Complex as well as the Full Bore Shooting Range in suburban Gurgaon.
“We have already moved our venue operations teams and they have started working on the overlays. There is no delay on our part. The technical conduct of the Games is our responsibiliy and we are on time,” Bhanot said in response to media criticism.
Nevertheless, there are plenty of challenges ahead, independent observers aver.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has inaugurated all the venues, though unfinished work like cabling, landscaping and removal of debris remains. Recent incidents of waterlogging, seepage and even a roof collapse have raised questions about whether the deadline can be met.
The furnishing of apartments, beautification and construction of the approach road is also incomplete at the much talked about Games village situated on the banks of river Yamuna.
The recent report of the autonomous Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has cast a long shadow. The corruption watchdog has pointed out poor quality of construction material and grant of work to ineligible agencies in several projects. As per the CVC’s Chief Technical Examination Wing, large-scale procedural violations, including corruption, have been noticed in 16 projects.
Another scandal surfaced over the award of contract to a company in Britain allegedly without following proper procedures. But CWG organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi has vehemently denied all allegations. He said these charges were “baseless” as proper trails existed to establish that all transactions were within law and above board.
Vijay Kumar Malhotra, president of the General Association of National Sports Federations (GANSF), said: “There is a general sense of antipathy, cynicism, concern, worry about the Games. The common man on the street is worried not only about the massive corruption but also about the image of the country.”
However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself has shown satisfaction with the progress of work and said the country would be prepared “by the deadline”.
“I have reviewed the situation with the cabinet secretary and I am satisfied that all necessary preparations are in place and will be in place by the deadline,” Singh said last week at the joint press conference with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Chief Minister Dikshit has said Delhi will host the best-ever Games and there is no need to panic, adding ““All is well in Delhi”.
Officials and labourers are racing against time to complete all Games-related projects -- landscaping, plantation, beautification, parking places, footover bridges, roads, renovating markets, hotels and buildings -- to make the capital look like “a world-class city”.

Commonwealth Games

Venue : New Delhi Oct 3-14
Competing nations/teams: 71
Cost: $3 billion
Disciplines: 17
Tickets: 1.7 million
Expected visitors: 100,000
Games infrastructure being constructed or renovated (stadiums, roads and flyovers): 24
Games volunteers: 30,000