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This Commonwealth is uncommonly controversial There is less than a year to go. The frantic, stressful last lap has begun to the biggest sporting event Delhi, in fact, India has ever hosted. The 19th
edition of the Commonwealth Games will be held in the capital in October, 2010. Ok, we all know that. But what we are still unsure about is
whether the city will be in a position to host it at all, even a year from now. Then again, that is not our real concern. After all, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) — the organisation directing its logistics — and our Union Sports Minister who is the local host, along with the President of the Indian Olympic Association, are responsible for putting up the show. We just want to take stock of the impact that this global jamboree is likely to have on this city. Do you? If yes, then read on.
In 2003, when India was still bidding for the Game, it presented an evaluation report, before the CGF. In it the government made certain commitments on the location, look and feature of the Games Village that was to be constructed to house the thousands of atheletes who would arrive in Delhi to participate in the great event. Now here is a review of what was promised then, and what has been delivered now. So why the shores of Yamuna? If none of these conditions were being met, why on earth did the authorities zero in on the Yamuna banks? Certainly a puzzle that is yet to be solved. What makes me scratch my head even harder is that this area hosts an aquatic ecosystem, and should anyway have been protected from such rampant building activities. Lets take a look at what the experts have to say about this:
(Source- Valuation of Ecological Functions and Benefits: A case study of Wetlands Ecosystems along the Yamuna River corridors of Delhi
Region in 2000, conducted by the World Bank, Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development
Research (IGIDR). Manoj Mishra of Yanuna Jiye Abhiyaan says “ I delivered my presentation highlighting vulnerability of Yamuna as many as 80 times. I showed it to Vice President of Indian Olympic Association, K. P. Sindhe, to the chief minister of Delhi, and various groups of ministers. All of them sympathised, but did not commit a change.” 
Overriding the experts If top notch government research agencies declared the zone to be valuable and vulnerable why was it chosen as the Game Village site at all? The Indian Olympic Association won the bid to host the Games in November 2003. It approached the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) three years later, in October 2006, for environmental clearance of the Yamuna bed site. The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) expressed serious environmental concerns on the site and recommended a change of site in November, 2006. But the process of finalising the spot carried on, unhindered. However, the first Clearance letter (EC) provided for raising only temporary ‘dismantle-able’ structures so that the riverbed could be restored after the event. Delhi doomed? None of these preventive measures were heeded as work progressed on the ground. The situation remains the same even now. It is evident that Delhi will have to try and heal its Commonwealth-inflicted wounds all by itself. When the spotlights are turned off and the Game is over. |
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