Delhi in foreign media

The washington post
The 2010 Commonwealth Games are a 2009 mess for New Delhi
Rama Lakshmi,September 16
India’s capital is in the midst of a breathless construction overdrive in the run-up to an international sporting event scheduled for next year. But the makeover dream is fast turning into a nightmare. With the October 2010 deadline looming,a government report says that stadium designs,hotel rooms,sporting venues and roads are not fully ready. And some people are beginning to ask whether the chaotic capital of the world’s largest democracy has what it takes to successfully put together a multi-sport mega-event the way China did. “The entire city is dug up right now. New roads,the Metro,the bridges,new energy-efficient streetlights,power lines and drains. Delhi is in a hurry to demolish its old self and rebuild anew. That does create chaos and delays,” said Sheila Dikshit,Delhi’s chief minister.

The Economist
Who will bell the cat?
September 17
India’s preparations for the Games are a shambles. Most visibly,19 main sports venues are construction sites. According to a leaked report by the government’s main auditor in July,work on 13 of them was badly behind schedule – with swimming,boxing,hockey and rugby sites half-finished. The main Jawaharlal Nehru stadium,built for the Asian Games in 1982 — India’s only comparable experience of playing host to such a vast sporting event — and now being rebuilt,was never expected to stand comparison with Beijing’s futuristic “Bird’s Nest” stadium.
But the venues are a relatively small concern for the Commonwealth Games Federation,an anxious governing body. Its Jamaican president,Michael Fennell,wrote this month to the OC,seeking crisis talks with India’s Prime Minister,Manmohan Singh.

THE AUSTRALIAN

Woeful stadium,but toilets are tops
Amanda Lulham,September 18
Welcome to next year’s Commonwealth Games,New Delhi-style. Just 380 days out from the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games,14 of the 19 venues are little more than holes in the ground. The situation has gotten so dire that Commonwealth Games Federation chairman Michael Fennell this week said he was “extremely worried” about preparations and that there was a “serious risk” it would not live up to the organisational standards of the previous two games in Manchester and Melbourne.

But would-be visitors needn’t worry — the stadiums might not be ready in time,but the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is planning to construct 300 “washroom centres” which will combine bathrooms with coffee shops,ice-cream parlours,fast food joints and florists.

DAWN

Commonwealth Games organisers woefully unprepared
September 4

With little over a year until the opening ceremonies,it’s a race against time. The seat of the world’s largest democracy has become one of the largest civil constructions sites on the globe.

And a building program that started slowly and has been hampered by delays and a lack of central coordination is now going ahead at a frenetic pace as varying groups and agencies work to wrap up preparations of the competition and training venues for 17 sports,accommodation for more than 5,000 athletes and officials and an expanded Metro system that will be a legacy of the Games.

On the unfinished business list: just about everything.