The commonwealth games.

[Sonic]

What. A. Mess.

[ShiftingGears]

Complete and utter embarrassment. I have no idea what or who designed it but I am hoping when/if the grand prix circus rolls in next year then India doesn't disgrace itself like it has here.

[schmenke]

I hear the organisers have no "plan-B" in case any of the venues are non-functional :s .
It's a shame; terrible publicity for India.

[Mark in Oshawa]

India has been demanding for years to be treated as a major power. India deserves a lot of credit for the steps they have taken as a nation and a democracy.When all of the committees such as the IOC and Commonwealth Games Committee pick these locations for their games, the common refrain is "the poorer nations don't get their chance"...and there is a reason for that and India is proving it.

This isn't the Olympics, but it is a major operation and India is a major power. They are embarassing themselves and doing the nations that feel that the major Western Powers have hogged these games a disservice.

The city of Hamilton Ontario was turned down in favour of New Delhi. By a 2 to 1 margin. Hamilton isn't the garden spot of Canada, but even in their most dysfunctional bad days would they even approach this mess.....

There is talk the Canadian team may be told to just stay home due to health risks and security risks. It is THAT bad......

[Sonic]

.

There is talk the Canadian team may be told to just stay home due to health risks and security risks. It is THAT bad......

Indeed. None of the nations of the uk are currently committing to travel to India. Worse still, several athletes have pulled out regardless of their nations stance, fearing for their own personal safety.

[Easy Drifter]

As of my local 6 pm TV news 2 Cdn. atheletes have pulled out and several more are seriously considering doing so.

[Mark in Oshawa]

An Indian journalist who lives in Canada covering Canadian news for the diaspora here, Ajit Jain was quoted to the effect that despite all the great buildings and progress, corruption on the part of all parties who build anything for the government is rampant. A pedestrian bridge on the grounds collapsed killing people. 43 have died building the venues, and what was supposed to cost a few hundred million to host the games is now pushing into the billions.

India has too many issues of bad governence and corrupt business people to pull this off. Thank god the IOC didn't give them an Olympics. It is going to be interesting to see how Bernie treats them for the Indian GP...

By the way, I saddens me to see that. Nothing would make me happier than to see a modern democratic state emerge from India, but they have a ways to go...

[Sleeper]

It is going to be interesting to see how Bernie treats them for the Indian GP...

Karun Chandok has already pointed out that the GP is a private venture, so we wont have to worry about corrupt government officials causing such problems.

[ArrowsFA1]

...what was supposed to cost a few hundred million to host the games is now pushing into the billions.
But isn't that the case with most of these kind of events? There are always promises about the costs at the start which prove to be wide of the mark in the end.

The whole bidding process for the likes of the Commonwealth & Olympic games, as well as the World Cup needs to be changed IMHO. It's a money pit.

[schmenke]

...The whole bidding process for the likes of the Commonwealth & Olympic games, as well as the World Cup needs to be changed IMHO. It's a money pit.

Yep. In the end, the host city taxpayers inevitably foot the bill for years to follow.

[Valve Bounce]

Some of you may have read newspaper articles (many in google) about the state of things in the village and the sight and smell of excrement everywhere. Just as a matter of interest, the Delhi Chief Minister is Shelia tihskiD. I have spelt her surname backwards so that the auto censor does not blank it out. For those who want a link provided, here it is: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/federation-ministers-meet-to-save-games/story-e6frg7mf-1225928731775

For those who are in doubt about the seriousness of the issues here, just remember the footbridge that collapsed three days ago while the concrete was being poured, had the structure not collapsed, the concrete would not have achieved its 28 day strength by the opening ceremony, and would have collapsed under the load of the crowd using it.

I also want to point out that when I went to Korea to take part in the Asian Games back in 1984, I arrived 2 weeks early to train, and we were put up in quarters the standard of a 4 star luxury hotel. So not all of Asia is filthy like India.

[Storm]

The guy in charge is also the MP from my city. Clustermess indeed.
Nobody here is happy about what is going on but unfortunately this type of mess is sort of "expected" when it comes to sport and government (read politicians) in our country. :(

edit: VB, neither is all of India as filthy as it is being made out to be. Attitudes need to change in our country for work to happen on time and this will not happen in a day (or any time soon for that matter - very sad but people who want change and do something about it are in the minority)

[Valve Bounce]

The guy in charge is also the MP from my city. Clustermess indeed.
Nobody here is happy about what is going on but unfortunately this type of mess is sort of "expected" when it comes to sport and government (read politicians) in our country. :(

edit: VB, neither is all of India as filthy as it is being made out to be. Attitudes need to change in our country for work to happen on time and this will not happen in a day (or any time soon for that matter - very sad but people who want change and do something about it are in the minority)

My company had a highway project going in Northern India, and during pavement construction, the guys would arrive on site each morning to find clumps of excrement on the newly constructed layer of pavement.

I think this is all due to poor potty training. :rolleyes:

[Dave B]

:!: Excuse to laugh at foreign names ahead:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6796897&l=e6a8ff5af7&id=627167268

:p

[Valve Bounce]

:!: Excuse to laugh at foreign names ahead:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6796897&l=e6a8ff5af7&id=627167268

:p

I did post it on my post, but spelt backwards so that the auto censor wouldn't blank it. :D

But I am more worried by the health situation because it has been reported that there were puddles under the buildings with plenty of Mosquitoes about. There is a Dengue issue here and athletes could suffer permanent injury from dengue fever.
It is also interesting that Kieren Perkens, who has something to do with the Australian media ( I think) tried to excuse /water down the situation in Delhi saying that these problems had come up in other games that he went to in Asia.
Well, I worked as well as competed in Korea; I worked in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, PNG, Thailand, Hong Kong among other places, and I have never seen filth as shown in the reports and photos from the games village.
I did have a Goldfish pond at my house in KL, and the inspector came around within days of my moving in and told me to get some goldfish for the pond as there were mosquitoe larvae in the pond and he would fine me if I did not have them the next day.

I just have never known of workmen to defecate on any work site in Asia where I worked.

[Dave B]

I just have never known of workmen to defecate on any work site in Asia where I worked.
You should visit Essex :p