The government got seven years to prepare for the games but could not avoid last minute tragedies.
Preparing for the commonwealth games has been a chaotic affair for India. Only 12 days before the games a footbridge near the main event’s stadium collapsed. Though the bridge has been reconstructed now with the help of the Indian army, this story made headlines all over the world and the Indian government received a lot of criticism. The BBC News reported about Delhi as “filthy, unsafe, unfit and uninhabitable” for commonwealth and the athletes. There were videos of dirty bathrooms and stray dogs laying on the beds meant for atheletes. This news rolled for more than 24 hours and I am sure each Indian must have felt a jolt of shame in their nerves. The situation had become so bad that at last the PM Manmohan Singh had to step up and make apologies for such last minute tragedies.
But, New Delhi is now all geared up to save the crisis hit games and their reputation. The scene is of a battle ground with all the action all over the city. Every nook and corner of the city is being cleaned and decorated. Roads have been broadened and painted everywhere with separate commonwealth special lanes for game’s use only. A charge of Rs. 2000 has been set for anyone driving in those lanes. The historic city centre ‘Connaught Place’ has been finally completely refurbished which took more than 7 years. The metro rail is now able to connect almost all parts of the city now. All the old junkyard buses have been replaced by London style double-decker red and green ones. The illegal migrants strolling around and living on the streets of Delhi have been locked up for at least few days to avoid chaos.
The city and its preparations for the commonwealth are really looking much better now. It would have been so much better if these steps had been taken earlier. India could have escaped such shameful criticism at least. But, it’s better late than never.
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