FT says India facing Commonwealth Games disaster

[ina_jawaan]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d83cb93c-c53f-11df-9563-00144feab49a.html India given deadline for games clean-up By James Lamont in New Delhi and Roger Blitz in London Published: September 21 2010 09:39 | Last updated: September 21 2010 18:11 The Commonwealth Games faced severe embarrassment after its governing body gave the Indian organisers of next month’s championships until Wednesday to clean up an athletes’ village whose filthy condition has shocked international sports associations. Mike Hooper, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, described the accommodation at the games village in Delhi as “filthy†and “uninhabitableâ€. He said his organisation would no longer pull any punches over the shortcomings in India’s preparations for the games, scheduled to start on October 3, as 8,000 athletes prepare to land in India’s capital. The local organising committee was struggling for answers on Tuesday, as their woes were deepened by the collapse of a metal footbridge close to the centrepiece Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, injuring as many as 25 people. A spokesman told reporters that “deep cleaning†of the village would take place over the next two days and regretted the embarrassment over the games’ preparations. “It’s unfortunate that it’s happened but as far as the games are concerned [they] will remain unaffected,†said Lalit Bhanot, the general secretary of the local organising committee. “[The cleaning] will be completed by the arrival of the athletes.†Mr Hooper said the federation had asked for the village’s deficiencies to be fixed by September 19, but a lack of progress made it necessary “to elevate the matter to make sure that athletes get what they deserveâ€. International teams appear to be quickly losing confidence that Delhi, which was awarded the championship seven years ago, can pull off a successful games. Members of national advance parties have expressed concerns about the village’s hygiene, the proximity of mosquito-breeding standing water and insecure electrical wiring. Officials from the Scottish team, who arrived in Delhi last Thursday, described the accommodation blocks as “far from finished†and “unsafe and unfit for human habitationâ€. The federation’s president, Mike Fennell, and other officials have repeatedly warned time was India’s enemy in its tardy preparations, which have also been dogged by allegations of corruption, mismanagement and absence of leadership. Top Indian officials have been left doubting the wisdom of Asia’s third-biggest economy holding large sporting events. An outbreak of dengue fever, a malaria-like sickness, as well as the presence of other illnesses such as typhoid and gastroenteritis, has discouraged visiting athletes. A shooting attack on Taiwanese tourists at the weekend at the Jamma Masjid, one of New Delhi’s best known Islamic sites and a popular tourist attraction, has similarly caused misgivings. However, Mr Bhanot said that the level of cleanliness expected by international visitors was different to that of local standards. “They want certain standards of cleanliness. They may differ from my standards,†he said. The vocal criticism of India’s ability to deliver world class infrastructure to deadline came as foreign investors helped spur the Sensex, a benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, to a 32-month high, breaking through the 20,000 points level. Tense build-up Nov 13 2003 India is announced as the host for the 2010 Commonwealth Games June 16 2007 Indian environmentalists seek to protect areas of Delhi’s fragile river floodplain from developers’ plans to build the athletes’ village there Oct 13 2009 Mike Fennell, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, says he has concerns across “all operational areas†of the event, including ticketing, accommodation, logistics and medical services Oct 15 2009 India asks Mike Hooper, CGF chief executive, to leave the country on the basis that his presence is “an impediment†to local organisers Aug 19 2010 Indian public sector enterprises freeze Rs2.6bn ($570,000) games sponsorship, following the suspension of three of the top Indian games officials for financial improprieties Sept 1 Hospitals in New Delhi report 2,000 cases of Dengue fever in an outbreak that threatens to scare off athletes and fans Sept 19 A gunmen fires on a tourist bus outside New Delhi’s most important Islamic site, the Jamma Masjid, wounding two Taiwanese tourists Sept 21 The CGF gives the organisers 24 hours to clean the athletes’ village, after competitors complain about filthy conditions.

[facetheace]

India will look bad in the eyes of the world, I can't comprehend that they had almost 7 years to set everything up for the games and now they're in a rush to finalize :headshake:

[ina_jawaan]

It is an absolute disgrace - the Telegraph has a photograph showing child labour working on the Games site - apparently the photographer was ejected for taking the photograph!