CWG 2010.
It was just another day. Another routine inspection of a stadium by His Honourable M S Gill, the Sports Minister of India. Today was the turn of the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, located on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. This is the stadium that will host cycling, gymnastics and wrestling events, among others.
I entered the stadium from Gate I that bears neither an indication nor a signpost. Guards and construction workers were equally confused about which gate was A, B, C, D or the 22 other alphabets. I managed to make my way in somehow and was confronted by a mound of rubble, mud, dirt, bricks, stones and numerous other materials that form the bedrock of a construction site. Stray dogs roamed the area. Children with runny noses peered out at me from shanties and huts hastily put together inside the stadium. Women with bricks on their heads, men with picks and shovels, young girls in tattered salwars and skirts – all seemed to be looking at me, like I was Alice in Wonderland.
Circling the vast complex, I finally made my way to the East Plaza where His Highness was busy in a presentation with a horde of engineers from SAI and CPWD (the two main organisations responsible for all the construction and renovation related to the Commonwealth Games 2010). Camerapersons milled around, shooting pictures and recording ambience noise (though there was hardly any!).
As His Highness finally decided to grace the Fourth Estate with his presence, there was a silent roar all around. Tension filled the air as all the presspersons were bursting with questions – questions that would go unanswered. The inspection started. His Highness led the pack. The media followed in his wake like a pack of animals, baying for answers. Camera wires trailed around like fat slithery snakes. Hard hats and numerous heads were visible ahead as some of us lagged behind. A scared-looking pink-nosed dog curiously stared at us. Soon, we were inside.
The enormity of the indoor stadium, the number of seats for the spectators, the sheer magnitude of the project, the height of the roof, the metal grills and railings and people suspended from the scaffolding like a bob from a pendulum – all had the effect of disorienting me for an instant.
But the final result was the same. Mr Gill praised the engineers. Put in a good word or two (more like twenty!) for all the engineers and construction workers. Patted the chief engineer on the back, who looked at the ground in practiced humility and was close to genuflecting at the minister’s feet. “Complex structure, architectural wonder, proud to be an Indian, the nation must applaud and praise the work going into it.” Phrases that have been routinely flung and bandied around. Almost clichéd. Gill took no questions, gave no answers. Just recited out a boring, practiced monologue – first in English, then in Hindi. He said that all the work would be completed on time and that India would host the best Commonwealth Games ever held.
Statistics tell a different story though. By this time, all the stadia work ought to have been finished and done with. That, however, has not been the case. Work only started on the Velodrome in January 2009. The final deadline has been pushed forward by a few months every time. No one of the sports arenas is 100 per cent. At the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, the gymnasium complex is 76 per cent done, the wrestling arena is 77 per cent over and the velodrome stands at 72 per cent. With an estimated cost of Rs 156 crore (that is a staggering US$ 31.2 million for this stadium alone!)
It was the same old story of practiced optimism, impressions, satisfaction and marvels of technology. The Games start on October 3 next year. I am sure the stadia will be ready by done (the Test events are due to commence from May 3). Whether it can be the best ever CW games and whether India can fulfil its obligations without another kick up its rear by the Commonwealth Games Federation, however, remains to be seen.
I entered the stadium from Gate I that bears neither an indication nor a signpost. Guards and construction workers were equally confused about which gate was A, B, C, D or the 22 other alphabets. I managed to make my way in somehow and was confronted by a mound of rubble, mud, dirt, bricks, stones and numerous other materials that form the bedrock of a construction site. Stray dogs roamed the area. Children with runny noses peered out at me from shanties and huts hastily put together inside the stadium. Women with bricks on their heads, men with picks and shovels, young girls in tattered salwars and skirts – all seemed to be looking at me, like I was Alice in Wonderland.
Circling the vast complex, I finally made my way to the East Plaza where His Highness was busy in a presentation with a horde of engineers from SAI and CPWD (the two main organisations responsible for all the construction and renovation related to the Commonwealth Games 2010). Camerapersons milled around, shooting pictures and recording ambience noise (though there was hardly any!).
As His Highness finally decided to grace the Fourth Estate with his presence, there was a silent roar all around. Tension filled the air as all the presspersons were bursting with questions – questions that would go unanswered. The inspection started. His Highness led the pack. The media followed in his wake like a pack of animals, baying for answers. Camera wires trailed around like fat slithery snakes. Hard hats and numerous heads were visible ahead as some of us lagged behind. A scared-looking pink-nosed dog curiously stared at us. Soon, we were inside.
The enormity of the indoor stadium, the number of seats for the spectators, the sheer magnitude of the project, the height of the roof, the metal grills and railings and people suspended from the scaffolding like a bob from a pendulum – all had the effect of disorienting me for an instant.
But the final result was the same. Mr Gill praised the engineers. Put in a good word or two (more like twenty!) for all the engineers and construction workers. Patted the chief engineer on the back, who looked at the ground in practiced humility and was close to genuflecting at the minister’s feet. “Complex structure, architectural wonder, proud to be an Indian, the nation must applaud and praise the work going into it.” Phrases that have been routinely flung and bandied around. Almost clichéd. Gill took no questions, gave no answers. Just recited out a boring, practiced monologue – first in English, then in Hindi. He said that all the work would be completed on time and that India would host the best Commonwealth Games ever held.
Statistics tell a different story though. By this time, all the stadia work ought to have been finished and done with. That, however, has not been the case. Work only started on the Velodrome in January 2009. The final deadline has been pushed forward by a few months every time. No one of the sports arenas is 100 per cent. At the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, the gymnasium complex is 76 per cent done, the wrestling arena is 77 per cent over and the velodrome stands at 72 per cent. With an estimated cost of Rs 156 crore (that is a staggering US$ 31.2 million for this stadium alone!)
It was the same old story of practiced optimism, impressions, satisfaction and marvels of technology. The Games start on October 3 next year. I am sure the stadia will be ready by done (the Test events are due to commence from May 3). Whether it can be the best ever CW games and whether India can fulfil its obligations without another kick up its rear by the Commonwealth Games Federation, however, remains to be seen.
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