whats going on for CWG 2010?

If people tuned in will recall, New Delhi is scheduled to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games, representing nations from all continents and all walks of life. The costs are huge, expected to cross Rs. 5,000 crores, and this makes the new minister for sports and youth affairs, Mani Shankar Aiyar, a very unhappy man.

Last week the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Michael Fennell, visited the city to take stock of the games preparations. The Tabloid of India reported that he was impressed with the preparations, and ran the headline, "Preparations on track, says Federation Chief." Okay, thats promising right, and the cynic Indian in me can only let out a deep breath and think that our politicians haven't yet messed this one up yet.

Then there was Hindustan Times reporting the official's visit, and it ran the headline, "Games plan tripping on water, power, Delhi told." Now this newsitem doesn't look as promising as the one reported before it. According to this newsitem, the official told them that preparations for the stadiums and everything might be top-notch, but it won't matter much if they can't solve the perennial problem of power and water.

In my mind, I have no doubt the President must have been wondering if Delhi will even be able to host one day of the event, and I agree with him, because people of Delhi have been left wondering just how incompetent can a neta from Delhi get. Shiela Dixit means good, and she's generally seen as a doer, but the problem is that the rest of the politicians in the Delhi government are those small-minded, self serving politicians that I love to write about.

After almost 60 years of independence, India's capital does not have access to reliable power supply. Think about that. Politicians have let their vote banks steal power, let illegal colonies mushroom in every nook and cranny, and in general have resisted any action that was taken to mitigate this situation. It was only when the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court got on Delhi's ass to get things done that we see them doing something reluctantly. I can't forget the hue and cry after the SC's order against illegal construction. The reaction by the MLA's, many of whom had broken zoning and construction laws as well, was classic. They passed resolutions in their Assembly 'ordering' a halt to these demolitions, they passed resolutions seeking to give these illegal colonies a new legal identity and all the other usual bullshit.

There are two projects that New Delhi is pinning its hopes on to solve the power problem: The Tehri Hydroelectric project, and the Dadri Gas based Electric project. While the Tehri project is supposed to go live this month, producing 250 MW in the first phase, and another 250 MW in the second phase, this project has been through hell but seems to finally have made through.

Similarly, The Dadri gas-electric project by Reliance is probably the biggest electricity generation project in the country. Expected to be operational by 2008-2009, this project is expected to take care of much of Delhi's power problems. But heres the rub, to really make things work, the supply and distribution of electricity will have to be revamped. The thousands of illegal electricity connections will have to be checked, and considerable efforts will have to be made to cut down the transmission and distribution losses. Now mind you, 3 years is enough time to change things considerably, and it comes down to the will and determination of politicians, and thats the toughest part.

Its the same with water. Delhi gets its water from UP and Uttaranchal, and UP has that grandmaster of corruption, Mulayam Singh Yadav at the helm. And he hates the Congress for daring to take on his chokehold on the Muslim and OBC votebanks. So UP releases less water and draws more power, and while the states fight it out, the rest of the country can just sit back and watch this orgy of good governance.

I haven't even talked about the MCD. In all their years of existance, they have done nothing to make Delhi a better place to live. They are working on it now, with the Supreme Court's gun aimed at their head. Shiela Dixit talked about speeding up the construction of public housing. Haven't heard anything on that front for a while now, but such a project should be placed on the priority list of things to be done.

As someone one a forum pointed out, Delhi may have a plethora of projects lined up, but much will remain the same as long as the attitude of the people remains the same. Delhi may have all the money to spend on flyovers, but it has little pride. The rich live behind closed doors and the middle class is too busy fighting out the traffic snarls, unfriendly policemen and the thugs on every corner. Here is the national capital of India as one of the most unsafe cities for women. How bloody shameful. Eve-teasers abound on every bus, every taxi, threewheeler driver will talk dirty to women, and if a lady is on the streets, somebody will pass a lewd comment just for the heck of it. And what does the Delhi Police do? Eh, they are too busy collecting their haftas, so they're cool.

I think Delhi will do well, and I really want to believe that the people in charge will come out winners. If it happened in 1982, it can happen in 2010. Go Delhi (and Delhiites, cultivate some culture, pleej?)