Do you think that India and Delhi are ready for the Commonwealth Games
"To Aim is to Achieve"-India has aimed for successfully hosting the prestigious mega event of Commonwealth Games and India will achieve it. To fulfill this dream an enormous amount of work needs to done. This dream was born long back when India hosted the Asian Games in 1982, the entire nation dream of hosting the Olympics one day. After a long gap of more than 20 years and due to lack to will and infrastructure we were unable to get the opportunity again. This time, the things fall our way and we won the bid to host the nineteenth Commonwealth Games in 2010.
The vision was to host the mega event in a way it has never happened before and leave a mark in the history of the event organization. As the time passed by the vision became the mission and Delhi has to gear up to create the state of the art infrastructure. New Delhi was deliberately chosen as it has its rich experience of the Asian Games behind. Moreover it has some already existed infrastructure like Indira Gandhi Arena, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Dhyan Chand National stadium etc. The rich culture of Delhi and its hospitality also plays a pivotal role in the organization.
To accomplish the mission a total budget of US$ 1.6 billion is estimated which will make the 2010 event, the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever. Games Village: A new modern games village of 63.5 hectare is being built on the bank of river Yamuna at the cost of USD 230.7 million. It is situated near the renowned landmark Akshardham Temple. The village will hold the capacity of 8500 athletes and officials. The old stadiums like Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium are also getting a facelift. A new society is getting constructed along the village side to provide free accommodation and cutting health facilities to the athletes.
Infrastructure: The preparation is on full swing and Delhi is experiencing a city makeover. To boost up the infrastructure Delhi's transport was the biggest pain, to eradicate this problem Delhi Metro's plan was executed and rest is the History. Delhi Metro has revolutionized the way Delhi used to travel. It has linked all the corners of the city and it is amongst the few Metro rail projects of the world that is making profit. Also, a total of nine corridors are under construction for the High Capacity Bus System. The Indira Gandhi International Airport is also undergoing extension and face lift. By 2010 a new terminal (terminal 3) will have been constructed to cater more than 37 million passengers a year. The airport will also have a new runway to cater more than 75 plus flights an hour, this runway will be the longest of Asia. The city of Delhi is being connected to all the neighboring satellite towns via national highways. A new 6 lane highway (NH8) is developed with flyovers to link with Gurgaon and National Highway No 1 and 2 are widened to connect Sonepat and Faridabad. Also news toll roads are connecting Noida and Rohtak to the capital city.
Energy: The government is undertaking a large power production initiative to increase power production to 7000 MW. To achieve this goal, the government plans to streamline the power distribution process, direct additional energy to Delhi, and construct new power plants. Also works are underway to tie up with power plants of Panipat and Faridabad. Security: In preparation for the Games and to promote security at major tourist destinations, Indian states will be deploying a force of "tourist police" far before the Games begin. These tourism police are regular state police forces, but will be trained to handle tourist-related aspects. A number of states have already implemented this program; other states are expected to emulate this model within the end of the year.
Indian Athletes: If we are hosting such an historic event on our soil, we should do justice with it by winning the maximum number of events. Our young brigade of athletes and sportspersons are having a thirst to grab all those shining gold medals. Saina Nehwal, Yuki Bhambri, Vijender Singh, Akhil, Shikil Kumar, Abhinav Bindra, Pallikal Bhullar, Baljit are all set to grab the gold.
Others: Other preparations include programs to teach English to boost up user friendliness. Programs have started to teach cab drivers, auto walas, waiters, gatemen and service staff English and basic antiquates. The Delhi High Court is also set to implement a series of "mobile courts" to be dispatched throughout Delhi to relocate migrant beggars from Delhi streets. India has declared itself committed to preventing environmental degradation due to the Games, and has declared the 2010 Games to be the "Green Games." Delhi is also undertaking a tree-planting campaign, spearheading an anti-litter effort, and promoting the use of renewable energy around the country and city. All this mega preparations shows India is committed to create history and host the event like never before. Agreeing to the fact that there are a certain loop holes still left and a long journey still needs to be covered, but with the passage of time we will overcome them and achieve the final goal.
By
Jagdeep S
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