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New Delhi gets makeover for Commonwealth Games

Justin Joseph

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New Delhi gets makeover for Commonwealth Games


DELHI, INDIA—Mughal ruler Shah Jahan put his stamp on Delhi with 17th-century architectural marvels such as the Red Fort and Jama Masjid, a stunning mosque with inscriptions explaining it was built “to cast the shadow of God over both East and West.”

Three centuries later, British architect Edwin Lutyens gave India’s capital a fresh look with sweeping boulevards and New Delhi’s iconic white bungalows.

Now, the sprawling capital of 16 million is getting its latest makeover in preparation for this year’s Commonwealth Games.

For the past several years, construction crews have battled sandstorms and looming deadlines amid concerns over whether the Games’ venues will be ready by the time the Queen’s Baton — the Games’ version of the Olympic torch — finishes its trek across India and arrives here.

Those worries aside, many residents support the city’s bid for the Games and are grateful for the construction boom that it has sparked.

Thanks to the Games, 26 new road overpasses and 18 railway bridges have been built at a cost of $1.4 billion.

New power plants worth $7 billion are being finished. Then there’s the $3.4 billion for expansion of Delhi’s metro into the suburbs, the addition of 3,775 new low-floor city buses and the construction of a new international airport terminal that will be able to handle 60 million passengers a year.
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“Holding these Games really has the chance to change the perception of Delhi across the world,” said Harish Bijoor, a brand strategy specialist who has advised several Indian state governments about how to increase tourism. “Most people think cities that have hosted big sports events have done a good job to beef up their security and cosmetics and are probably friendlier places. Delhi has that chance.”

The Commonwealth Games might not hold the allure of the Olympics, but the event remains one of the world’s largest sports meets with athletes from 71 former British colonies. Officials estimate as many as 100,000 visitors will come here for the Games, which take place Oct. 3 to 14.

Of all of the changes, the expansion of the metro that opened in 2002 may be the most significant in a city that already boasts 6 million vehicles and is adding another 1,000 a day. By September, in the final weeks before the Games, the system may carry as many as 2 million people a day along 189 kilometres of track. By contrast, the Toronto Transit Commission’s tracks stretch 70 kilometres.

Officials hope that, besides easing traffic congestion, hosting the Games will increase civic pride.

Gleaming new street signs have been erected across the city and hundreds of saplings are being planted along arterial roads. Pillars that support road overpasses are being wrapped in foliage and campaigns are underway to curb public urination and spitting.

“Delhi is known as a city where people can be a bit ‘in your face,’ ” Bijoor said. “I think that will change during the Games. The question is whether it all disappears afterward.”

Of course, preparing for a large-scale event can also bring uncomfortable scrutiny.

In the months before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China was criticized for its human rights record and a vice-mayor who oversaw construction projects was given a suspended death sentence for corruption. In 2004, there were questions almost to the final days before the Olympics in Athens whether construction there would finish on time.

New Delhi hasn’t escaped controversy, either.


Besides worries that construction won’t be finished before the opening ceremonies and that athletes will find the pollution here jarring, there are serious worries over security.

In June, the news magazine Open cited intelligence reports alleging Pakistan-based terror groups were planning to target the Games. Gurdeep Singh, a brigadier-general in the Indian army, was quoted by the magazine saying there are as many as 2,500 militants in 42 training camps in Pakistan, many of whom have been “specifically directed by their Pakistani handlers to make their way from Kashmir to Delhi by the onset of autumn, well in time to create large-scale disturbances.” :angry::angry:

But some residents say they aren’t worried — about security concerns of construction delays.

“Worries about bombings are something we deal with every day that you people in the West don’t understand,” said Vinod Akbar, a 21-year-old university student standing outside a metro station near Connaught Place, a popular tourist destination. :devil::devil:

“And if you ask me about whether I’m worried that building won’t be done in time, the truth is that the work being done here in two years wouldn’t have been done in 10 without the Games.”

New Delhi gets makeover for Commonwealth Games - thestar.com
 
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