What the Indian Media isn’t telling you about the Delhi Commonwealth Games

Here’s an update on the state of preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

This comes courtesy of Richard Moore’s report in The Scotsman. It’s really a credit to the Indian media that we have to depend on a Scottish newspaper for updates on something that is happening in our country.

Now for the update.

The preparations for the Games are lagging seriously behind schedule – so much so that the Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper has been spending half his time in New Delhi overseeing the work.

There is also talk that the Games could be in grave danger, with some even talking of the worst case scenario – that the games will be handed back to the last host, Melbourne – becoming a genuine possibility. That would really be a proud moment for Indian sport.

But are we exaggerating the issue. Preparation for such mega events have known to be behind schedule, most recently during the Athens Olympic Games.

The Delhi case, however, is a little different. This because the projected completion dates for most of the facilities is very aggressive in the first place, leaving very little breathing space.

Work began on the 58,000-seat main stadium last August and is scheduled to finish on 31 January 2010. The same completion date is given for the lawn bowls facility. The final touches to the facilities housing weightlifting, gymnastics, wrestling, shooting, table tennis, archery, squash, badminton, table tennis, tennis and swimming is set for a month earlier.

So what stage are these facilities in?

As per the official games website these facilities – all of them – still exist only as artists’ impressions.

And that is not all. It gets scarier

The “final design” is still being developed for the swimming pool, while the cycling velodrome appears to be at a “concept design” stage.

If you still aren’t worried, then either you don’t care about these games or have Alladin’s magic lamp lying at home.

Interestingly, at the recent Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, encouraged India to bid for the 2020 Olympic Games.

He was either being sarcastic or is a very good diplomat.

Update (November 12, 2008): Looks like the Indian media has finally woken up. Here’s today’s report of the above issue on IBNLive.com.

Update (November 13, 2008): Mr Suresh Kalmadi waxed eloquent on how the Delhi half-marathon was the perfect build-up for the Commonwealth Games. On one hand the media conveniently forgot to report the trouble the 2010 games are facing and on the other hand they give the culprits an opportunity for self–praise.