:: Editorial

A wake-up call on 2010 Games

Sept.15 : Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennel’s letter to the organising committee of the 2010 event in New Delhi has set the cat among the pigeons. It is an open secret that almost every Games-related project has slipped well behind the completion schedule — in fact some of the facilities were due to be put to the test by now. Instead, at venue after venue, the story — as revealed by the recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India on the subject — is the same dismal one, of missed deadlines. Little wonder, therefore, that Mr Fennel wrote: "Our main concern relates to the capacity of the organising committee to deliver operationally. Preparations for the Games are significantly behind, so much so that the Commonwealth Games Federation is extremely worried about the organising committee’s ability to deliver the Games to any comparable standard to that of the last two editions of the Games in Manchester and Melbourne." Mr Fennel also sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking his direct intervention to speed up work and to "develop an appropriate recovery plan".

With China pulling off the stunning 2008 Beijing Olympics and thereby setting a new benchmark for such massive international events, the onus was on New Delhi to at least come up with a smooth and well-run show, even if not quite up to Beijing’s magnificent standards. In the event, even that is looking increasingly unlikely, with the CGF chief also claiming that a majority of functional areas were behind schedule and that an overhaul in the management culture and operation of the organising committee was needed to avert the Games from failing "from an operational perspective". While CG 2010 has been massively backed by both the Government of India as well as the Delhi government and a reported Rs 1,600 crores has been pumped in for the scheduled venues and the Games Village — not to mention the vast sums that have gone into various infrastructure projects all around the nation’s capital — there is a growing fear that it is not just the Games that are at stake, but the nation’s prestige too that has been put on line by Indian sports officialdom.

The Indian Olympic Committee talks bravely of bringing the Olympic Games to India in 2020, but on the evidence of what has transpired in the run-up to CG 2010, it is only so much wishful thinking. Clearly the need of the hour is far tighter monitoring by government agencies than has been the case so far. Vast sums have been spent already, but with time running out fast the Suresh Kalmadi-led IOA must be made answerable in a much more practical manner than has been the case so far. Bombastic talk is all very well, but unless deeds can match words it is the country that faces the prospect of international embarrassment.

Given India’s stature as a power of the not-too-distant future, that simply cannot be allowed to happen. If need be, a high-powered committee needs to be urgently set up to monitor on a day-by-day basis work on every aspect of the preparations — be it the stadia, practice facilities, athletes’ accommodation, roads and all other civil projects. It is a vast task, but having dragged matters to this sorry pass, there is now no alternative but to crack the whip on those responsible, be they administrators, contractors, planners or executors of Games-related projects.