COMMON WEALTH GAMES 2010

The 2010 Commonwealth Games are the nineteenth Commonwealth Games, and the ninth to be held
under that name. The Games are scheduled to be held in Delhi, India between 3 October and 14 October
2010. The games will be the largest multi-sport event conducted to date in Delhi and India generally,
which has previously hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and1982.

The two principal bids for the 2010 Commonwealth Games were from Delhi, India and Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada. A ballot of members was held in November 2003 at the Commonwealth Games
Federation General Assembly in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Delhi bid won by a margin of 46 votes to 22,
confirming India's first successful bid for the Games, while marking Canada's to host its fifth
games. India's bid motto was New Frontiers and Friendships.

Organizing committee
The organization was beset by delays: in January 2010 , the Indian Olympic Association vice-chairman
Raja Randhir Singh expressed concern that Delhi was not up to speed in forming and organising its
games committee and, following a 2009 Indian Government report showing two thirds of venues were
behind schedule, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell stated that the slow progress
of preparations represented a serious risk to the event.[6] Singh called for a revamp of the games'
organising committees:[7] Jarnail Singh, a former Secretary of the Government of India, was appointed as
the Chief Executive Officer and Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi was appointed as
head of the committee.[8] In spite of delays and the corruption casses on the organisors, commentators
stated that they are confident that India will successfully host the games and do so on time.

Costs
The total budget estimated for hosting the Games is US$ 1.6 billion and this amount excludes non-sports-
related infrastructure development in the city like airports, roads and other structures. This will likely make
the 2010 Commonwealth Games the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever.
Transport in Delhi
Delhi proposed a four-lane, 2.2 km underground stretch from Lodhi Road to trans-Yamuna, linking
the Games Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and reducing travelling time between thevillage and
the Stadium to six minutes.
In response to concerns over the large number of trains that pass by the Delhi metropolitan region daily,
construction of road under-bridges and over-bridges along railway lines has been started. To expand road
infrastructure, flyovers, cloverleaf flyovers, and bridges have been planned to improve links for the Games
and city in general. Road-widening projects have begun with an emphasis being placed on expanding
national highways. To improve traffic flow on existing roads, plans are underway to make both the inner
and outer Ring roads signal free.
To support its commitment to mass transport, nine corridors have been identified and are being
constructed as High Capacity Bus Systems (for example, one from Ambedkar Nagar to Red Fort). Six of
these corridors are expected to be operational in 2010. Additionally, The Delhi Metro will be expanded to
accommodate more people and boost the use of public transport during the 2010 games. At 420 km
long. it will be one of the world's longest networks and it will extend to Gurgaon and the Noida area.[12] For
this exponential increase of the network, Delhi Metro will deploy 14 tunnel boring machines.[13]
Indira Gandhi International Airport is being modernised, expanded, and upgraded. Costing nearly US$
1.95 billion, Terminal 3 has improved airport passenger capacity to more than 37 million passengers a
year by 2010. A new runway is being constructed, allowing for over 75 flights an hour and – at over 4400
metres long – it will be one of Asia's longest.
The airport will be connected to the city via a six-lane expressway (Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway) and the
$580 million Delhi Airport Metro Express line.

Venues
Competition venues
Existing and new stadiums in Delhi will be used to house the sports during the Games:

 Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi – Athletics, lawn bowls, weightlifting

 Dhyan Chand National Stadium – Hockey
 Indira Gandhi Arena – Archery, cycling, gymnastics, wrestling
 Delhi University sports complex – Rugby sevens
 Thyagaraj Stadium – Netball
 Siri Fort Sports Complex – Badminton, Squash
 Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range – Shooting
 Talkatora Stadium – Boxing
 SPM Swimming Pool Complex – Aquatics
 RK Khanna Tennis Complex – Tennis
 Yamuna Sports Complex – Table tennis

Calendar
The official calendar for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is as follows:[39]

● Opening Event Closing

● ●
ceremony competitions ceremony

4 10 11 12 13 14
October 3 5 6 7 8 9 Venue

Ceremonie
● ● Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
s

Aquatics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● SPM Swimming Pool Complex

Archery ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Yamuna Sports Complex

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium & India

Athletics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Gate

Badminton ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Siri Fort Sports Complex

Boxing ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Talkatora Stadium

 I. G. Indoor Stadium
Cycling ● ● ● ● ● ●
Complex, India Gate

Gymnastic
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. G. Indoor Stadium Complex
s

Maj. Dhyan Chand National

Hockey ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Stadium

Lawn
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Bowls

Netball ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Thyagaraj Sports Complex

Rugby
● ● Delhi University
sevens

Shooting ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range

Squash ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Siri Fort Sports Complex

Table
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Yamuna Sports Complex
Tennis

Tennis ● ● ● ● ● ● ● R K Khanna Tennis Complex

Weightlifti
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
ng

Wrestling ● ● ● ● ● ● I. G. Indoor Stadium Complex

October 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Venue

Criticism and controversies

Delays
In September 2009, Commonwealth Games federation chief Mike Fennell reported that the games were
at risk of falling behind schedule and that it was "reasonable to conclude that the current situation poses a
serious risk to the Commonwealth Games in 2010". A report by theIndian Government released several
months prior found that construction work on 13 out of the 19 sports venues was behind schedule.

Vigilance-related irregularities
On July 28, 2010, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) released a report showing irregularities in up
to 14 CWG projects.[48] As per official reports, in total 129 works in 71 organizations have been inspected.
[49]
The detailed preliminary findings[50] include
 1. Award of works at higher prices
2. Poor Quality Assurance
3. Award of work to ineligible agencies

There are also allegations of wide spread corruption in various aspects of organising the games including
procurement and awarding contracts for constructing the game venues.[51] The Commonwealth Games
Organizing Committee on 5th Aug 2010 suspended T S Darbari (joint director in the organising
committee) and Sanjay Mahendroo (deputy director general in the organising committee) following the
report of the three-member panel which was probing the financial irregularities related to the Queen's
Baton Relay.[52] Also Organizing Committee treasurer Anil Khanna resigned from the post in the wake of
allegations that his son's firm had secured a contract for laying synthetic courts at a tennis stadium.
Labour Violations
Campaigners in India have accused the organisers of enormous and systematic violations of labour
laws at construction sites. Human Rights Law Network reports that independent investigations have
discovered more than 70 cases where workers have died in accidents at construction sites since work
began. Although official numbers have not been released, it is estimated that over 415,000 contract daily
wage workers are working on Games projects.[55] Unskilled workers are paid 85 to 100 Indian
rupees (INR) per day while skilled workers are paid 120 to 130 INR per day for eight hours of work.
Slum eviction and no-beggar-zones
A much-quoted report by the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) – an arm of the Habitat
International Coalition – has brought to light some worrying social and environmental consequences of
the event. Based on a Right to Information (RTI) application filed for the study and statements by civil
society groups, it has discovered that ‘no tolerance zones’ for ‘beggars’ are being used in Delhi, and that
the city has arbitrarily arrested homeless citizens under the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959.
Furthermore, over 100,000 families have already been evicted in order to make space for CWG-related
projects, and a further 30,000 to 40,000 were slated for eviction and ‘relocation’

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Compiled by: Ambika Chandra

Shweta Rajvanshi
BJMC-5