While the heading sounds downright alarmist, I am sure the situation of ground certainly is alarmist. The Commonwealth Games due to be held next year is in jeopardy of being shifted around. The reason: Environmental Reasons being raised as the Games Complex is being built on the grounds of Yamuna which is one of the life lines of Delhi. The matter is pending in the Delhi High Court and no decision has been announced yet.
The question here is , if the court decides otherwise, will the Organizing Committee be able to come up with an alternative place or have the infrastructure given the fact that the games are just an year away. The very fact that even with so much time, the Committee has not been able to have the infrastructure completed on time, then there is no gaurantee that the infra will be in place within the next one year.
To add to it, the Velodrome construction hasnt been started yet. So much so, the World Badminton Championship which was supposed to be held at Delhi was shifted to Hyderabad because the infrastructure wasnt complete.
Here are a few questions that the Organizing committee will have to answer
1. Why did they not anticipate that environmental issues would be raised. Was it plain overconfidence or just ignorance ?
2. Why was there so much delay in the construction of stadiums etc ? Do we have to wait until the opening ceremony to have it completed or you guys get a high by delaying ?
3. With one year to go, the Velodrome construction hasnt even started. If completed will it be of good quality or will be it built in such a way that it will last only until the games are over.
4. Do we have to see this way of working time and again. Ofcourse you guys will give out bhashans saying how world class the infrastructure is and how this will make India into a sports superpower. I Are you guys really interested in promoting sports in India ?
All said and done, it has come to a point where you simply cannot trust what these administrators say. Every word they say have to be taken with a pinch of salt. I can only wait for the day when everything is done on time without the threats of cancellation being held on the head.
No wonder IST has been punned as Indian Stretchable Time.
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