Bidding Overview:

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. The bid was Canada's attempt to hold the games for the fifth time. India's bid motto was New Frontiers and Friendships. India shifted the balance in its favour in the second round of voting with a promise that it would provide US$100,000 to each participating country, along with air tickets, boarding, lodging and transport. The successful 2003 Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad was also seen as having showed India has the resources, infrastructure and technical know-how to stage a big sporting event. India also thanked Latif Butt, former vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia, for his support in the winning bid, by saying, "He played a vital role in the Commonwealth Games 2010 being allotted to India. Such actions are worthy of emulation by all concerned in Pakistan and India. I have no doubt that if both sides continue to live by such ideals, one day, sooner than later our generations to come will reap the benefits of and be grateful to those making such contributions. The Indian government stated that it would underwrite the total cost of the Games.

Concerns and controversies over the 2010 commonwealth games:

A number of concerns and controversies surfaced before the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, which received widespread media coverage both in India (the host nation) and internationally. The Commonwealth Games was severely criticized by several prominent Indian politicians and social activists because billions of dollars have been spent on the sporting event despite the fact that India has one of the world's largest concentrations of poor people. Additionally, several other problems related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games have been highlighted by Indian investigative agencies and media outlets; these include serious corruption. By officials of the Games' Organizing Committee, delays in the construction of main Games' venues, infrastructural compromise, possibility of a terrorist attack, and exceptionally poor ticket sales before the event.

Environmental aspects:
Nearly 400,000 people from three large slum clusters in Delhi have been relocated since 2004. Gautam Bhan, an Indian urban planner with the University of California-Berkeley, said that the 2010 Commonwealth Games have resulted in "an unprecedented increase in the degree, frequency and scale of indiscriminate evictions without proper resettlement. We havent seen

levels of evictions in the last five years since the Emergency." In response to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed for study and statements by civil society groups, a report by the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) - an arm of the Habitat International Coalition detailed the social and environmental consequences of the event. It stated that no tolerance zones for beggars are enforced in Delhi, and the city has arbitrarily arrested homeless citizens under the "Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959.

Commonwealth games likely to affect indias economic image:

The Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010 are going to be a big fiasco for the third largest Asian economy, India (after China and Japan). Political and financial corruption could scar the face of India in conducting such big events. There have been many reports about corruption scandals surrounding CWG 2010, well in advance, for two months. But the government, especially the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, seemed completely unaware of what was up regarding CWG arrangements.

Missed Link:
The idea of conducting international events comes from the wishes of leaders to keep their country in the spotlight for purposes of improving business, attracting tourists and financially contributing to the growth of the country. It is surprising that the growth-figures-oriented Prime Minister has missed the link between CWGs success and his aspirations for surpassing the Chinese growth rate. Many international news networks have expressed doubts whether India could make it. The doubts remained unresolved even as the date is just three days away. The government appointed a ministerial body of three ministers only five days before the inaugural date, which is October 3rd.

Missing Targets:
India is somewhat notorious for missing its targets due to several issues whether the GST (Goods and Services Tax), issuance of unique ID to its citizens, a proper response to the Kashmir struggle, reducing inflation or dependence on monsoon rains for inflation control. They have continued in a similar fashion, in terms of missing their target, by conducting CWG. The event's organizers have warned arriving participants that the sports village complex would not be ready until Thursday, i.e. just two days before the inaugural event. One can argue it is just unacceptable for such a big sporting event.

Commonwealth Games 2010 is expected to result in an overall economic impact of USD 4,940 million on India's GDP during a period of four years ending 2012 and create an employment opportunity close to 24.7 lakh. According to a Games Organizing Committee document, this figure is almost three times the economic impact the 2006 Melbourne Games had on Australian GDP. "It is estimated that the Commonwealth Games 2010 would result in an overall economic impact of approximately USD 4,940 million on India over the period of 2008-12," the document said. It said the 2002 Manchester Games created an impact of nearly USD 3,400 million in Britain's, while the Melbourne Games created an impact of USD 1,600 million on Australia's GDP. The OC estimates said the Delhi Games are also expected to create an "enormous employment opportunity" of close to 24.7 lakh jobs. "The social and environmental impact of the Games will be highly laudable as they are bound to encourage improved standards of education to children, boost sports activities, create a better quality of life and experience for citizens, increase international recognition and create environmental consciousness among the community," it said. However, an NGO Hazard Centre claimed that Delhiites will have to pay a huge price for the "development work" carried out for Commonwealth Games and "in the next 25 to 30 years, each one of them will have to pay a debt in form of increased prices of land, basic commodities and petrol." The report titled 'Heritage Games' claimed that countries which hosted events like Olympics, World Cup and Commonwealth Games have plunged into huge debts after suffering losses It attributed the economic crisis in Greece to its 16,600 million dollar "adventure" of Athens Olympics four years ago. Mexico, Seoul, Barcelona, Sydney were cities that have followed suit and have incurred losses of many millions of dollars, it claimed. The Games Organizing Committee had earlier set up a Commonwealth Business Club India (CBCI) in partnership with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to encourage and support Indian business community's involvement in the marketing and promotion of Indian sports. "The aim was to raise sports sponsorship and market India as a preferred business partner and destination across the Commonwealth."

India is a developing country. Focus on the word developing as India is not yet developed. Ironically, India is a country which is, on one hand struggling with the problem of poverty since the time of independence while on the other hand is spending millions on the Commonwealth Games Forty percent of Indias population is below the poverty line which clearly indicates that the booming Indian economy is still unable to feed a majority of its citizens. Climatic change like global warming is causing an agricultural crisis for the peasants all over the country, worsening their conditions which, in turn, is leading to inflation in the economy, energy resources are getting depleted, unskilled and poor people are forced to get involved in unorganized employment with least possible wages and lets not forget the skilled and literateunemployedbut who really cares? India is too busy with commonwealth games Indias present goal should be the development of human resources, dealing with poverty and creating a healthy, wealthy and literate India. I believe that as a result of the approaching Commonwealth Games, India, especially Delhi is undergoing a complete makeover where the infrastructure is concerned. Lavish five-star hotels, better flyovers, etc, are being constructed. Better buses can be seen running on the roads of Delhi. The fact is these games may have an international impact and benefit a particular section of the society temporarily. But this is where the most significant question arises that if the games will benefit a certain strata of the society which is already rich and powerful then what happens to those strata of the Indian population which is below the poverty line, who bears the responsibility of their welfare. The Commonwealth Games will usher in a certain amount of employment but whether it offer employment to millions of unemployed, or this is only for a temporary period of time. Thus, a country like India wearing poverty in the form of national shame cannot afford to conduct such games at the cost of its poverty stricken citizens. Therefore India should first win the race against poverty and then think of going international through such ventures. Hence Indias poverty and the hosting of Commonwealth Games are not at all compatible as for a nation the welfare of its citizen is its first priority and not the conduction of sports and leisure.

Environmental Impacts:
The site of the CWG lies on the floodplain of the Yamuna River, a major tributary in Northern India that flows through many Indian provinces into the Ganges, including New Delhi. A floodplain defines a river and the surrounding city. Keeping houses and other buildings away from the river in New Delhi is extremely important because the city regularly suffers serious flooding. They have occurred in 1978, 1988, 1995, 1998 and 2008 and are of a devastating

nature; the construction of the Games Village has already caused a drop in the ground water table. New Delhi is also in a high risk zone for earthquakes and the sand in the floodplain makes it one of the most unstable places for a structure if an earthquake were to occur. Along with the risk of the buildings being destroyed by earthquakes or swept away in floods, New Delhi also needs the water that comes from beneath the floodplain. Every monsoon, the floodplain is recharged and water is pulled from the ground and the citys people use it to live. The citys population growth means that the demand for water will only continue to rise and so, by concretizing and building on the floodplain, New Delhi is cutting itself off from a vital source of water. The river is an important culture in the Hindu tradition, representing the Goddess Yami and the powers attributed to her, and as such, bathing, prayer and death ceremonies are common. The activities on the river do not stop there, however, as modern times have brought the disposal of hazardous material and raw human waste into the water, in fact 1.5 billion liters of raw sewage is added to the river daily. It seems the Western model of development has been embraced and followed in India, as millions of migrants have poured into the city searching for work to escape the poverty of rural life in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Our mistakes mainly poorly planned industrialization also seem to have been repeated. Serious environmental impacts are the consequence and the condition of the slums into which families have had to move has worsened as the population has grown; like the Western world did once upon a time, India hasnt focused on the rural countryside to lessen the mass migrations to cities and isnt promoting the conservation of resources enough.

Ecological aspects: Green Games:

The organizers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Environment Programme to show the intention to host a "sustainable games" and to take the environment into consideration when constructing and renovating venues. Thyagaraj Stadium is intended to be a key example of environmentally considered construction. Government officials launched an "ecological code" for the Games, claiming that they would be a "Green Games" and that the new, excellent infrastructure and facilities could be used by the society and the general public for generations to come; a showcase of urban sustainable development. In opposition to this intention, a number of environmental controversies arose and the adverse ecological impacts of various aspects of the games have been protested by city residents. City

residents filed a public interest petition to the Supreme Court of India against the felling of 'heritage' trees in the Siri Fort area to make way for Games facilities. The court appointed architect Charles Correa to assess the impact and he severely criticized the designs on ecological grounds. In spite of this, in April 2009 the Supreme Court allowed the construction on the grounds that "much time had been lost" and "the damage already caused to the environment could not be undone". The Commonwealth Games village, located on the flood plains of the Yamuna, has also been the subject of controversies about the flouting of ecological norms. After a prolonged legal battle between city residents and the state, construction was permitted to continue on the basis of an order of the Supreme Court of India in July 2009, which held that the government had satisfied the requirements of "due process of the law" by issuing public notice of its intention to begin construction work in September 1999 (a date four years prior to the acceptance of Delhi's bid for the games)

References:
http://technorati.com/sports/outdoor/article/commonwealth-games-likely-to-affect-indias/ http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/CWG-2010-will-result-in-economic-impact-of-4-94bn/691826/ http://theviewspaper.net/commonwealth-games-is-it-good-for-indias-economy/
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0930-raybould_commonwealth.html#ixzz1f7Ho7KG7 http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0930-raybould_commonwealth.html#ixzz1f7JViugK