The good people of Hamilton, Ontario are still smarting from losing their bid to hold the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which was awarded to New Delhi, India.

A last minute cash-promise of $7.2 million to train athletes got India the games, making the sub-continent only the second country in Asia to play host to the gathering of athletes from nations and territories that formed the former British Empire.

The games are scheduled to be held principally in New Delhi‘s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium between Oct. 3-14 after New Delhi won 46 votes to Hamilton’s 22 in a secret ballot.

But the euphoria of getting the games has given way to trepidation and downright assertions that India will not be ready for the US$1.6 billion sport spectacle. More than 4,000 athletes from over 50 countries are expected to compete in 17 sports at the New Delhi Games, making it the biggest sporting event held in India.

Security concerns, transportation woes, incomplete infrastructure and a lack of rooms are just some of the concerns that have gripped India and members of Commonwealth Games Federation.

, one of India’s leading newspapers recently said that it will take a "miracle" for New Delhi to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

"What is actually needed for it to materialise without us embarrassing ourselves, is a miracle. And even more money," the paper commented in a front-page story.

"And even if it all somehow works out, there’s that other big question. How on earth will we pay for the Games?" the paper asked.

The economic slowdown has already forced the Games Village builder to ask for a bailout from the government.

There are fears New Delhi may face the same fate as Montreal, which passed on the expenditure incurred for the 1976 Olympics to the city’s tax-payers. Montreal will this year make the last payment on a $6.2 billion deficit 30 years after it hosted the Olympics Games.

"I’m not the least bit surprised," McMaster University president Peter George, who had a lead role in Hamilton’s 2010 bid, told The Hamilton Spectator.

"A diplomatic way of looking at it is that I wish them well," he said.

Reports from Australia last month said Melbourne, hosts of the 2006 Games, were willing to step in if New Delhi was unable to organise the Games.

There have been heightened security concerns after the recent attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in neigbouring Pakistan and November’s attack by gunmen on the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in the Indian city of Mumbai, where more than 170 people died.

Indian officials said they have allocated US$16 million to "plug the gaps" in security. But security is not the only issue plaguing the games.

reported that Sitaram Yechury, head of the committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has thrown up serious doubts about New Delhi’s capability to prepare adequate accommodation and security for the competition.

The committee’s report, entitled "Development of Tourism Infrastructure and Amenities for Commonwealth games 2010," said that as the December 31 deadline for handing stadia over to the organizing committee swiftly approaches, many projects are yet to be initiated, let alone completed.

"There seems inadequate infrastructure in all sectors such as roads, airport, accommodation, surface transport, entertainment, basic amenities, parking, information centres, security, stadia and supply of power," the report stated.

Of the proposed 39 additional hotels, work is only going on at 19.

The committee also slammed the New Delhi authorities for a lack of coordination among the various agencies involved in building games-related projects.

Apart from infrastructure bottlenecks, the locations for the games’ main venues are also in doubt,The Asia Times said.

Environmental cases are pending over the allegedly illegal felling of more than 1,000 trees needed for the area where squash and basketball courts and the games village on the Yamuna River floodplain will be built.

The modernization of the dilapidated New Delhi Railway Station is also off track.

Brushing aside doubts about the preparedness for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, chief organiser Suresh Kalmadi asserted that the construction of stadiums and other venues would be completed by March next year and the mega event would be held on time.

"All the stadiums will be ready. Let there be no doubt, the Commonwealth Games are happening on time. We will have the best infrastructure. Most of it will be ready by March," Kalmadi, an MP and chairman of the 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, told IANS.

The Commonwealth Games Federation has also raised concern over the slow pace of work.

Among the athletes likely to compete at New Delhi are Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice and British cyclist Chris Hoy, who each won three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.