The commonwealth games were bagged by Delhi in 2003. About 7 years back. While considerable progress has been made since then to make Delhi a world-class city, quite obviously, things could have been speedier. An increasing number of projects have got delayed or shelved, as the realization sets in that the Games are just a few months away. The Yamuna cleanliness has gulped a few thousand crores. The intelligent traffic management system has been shelved due to paucity of time. The buses will be a mix of low floor and the existing killer ones. The stadiums which are said to be complete are lacking in some basic things such as fire preparedness.

I would like to question our planning process. Did the government and the organizing committee falter in delaying the planning process? Is it enough for budget to be sanctioned, or should that be followed by speedy action in finalizing the vendors and giving them ample time to complete the projects? Would it have helped the citizens of the National Capital to see the stadiums, the village, the roads, the security measures and countless other things to be in front of them 1 or 2 years before the event?

Perhaps, it is time for the government officials to start realizing that it does not help the cause or the public to see projects getting delayed. All it takes is the will and belief of an individual, heading the project, to ensure that the dream gets realized. Like Sreedharan did with the Metro. Like he has earlier done with the Konkan rail. Like Lalit Modi did with IPL. At the moment, very few people of Delhi seem energized or enthusiastic with the Games coming to their city. One of the prime reasons being that they have not been involved in the right way. The perception is more along the lines of the games being a government games. Flying some kites and releasing advertisements on key days in newspapers are good initiatives to score brownie points. But they do not help in energizing a common man. Reeling under recession and price hikes in basic commodities, the Delhi government has today driven the last nail in the coffin. Delhiites need to brace themselves to pay more taxes, simply because the budgets of the games has skyrocketed, and the central government has refused to spend any more on these games. Which means, in the name of National pride, the common man is a willing bali ka bakra, who will pay more for everything, from diesel, to transportation, to common commodities and goods, and with more VAT, for almost everything that he buys daily. Is it fair? If some people chose to delay the projects, perhaps deliberately, so the vendor can quote a higher price, in the name of paucity of time, and even then the vendor gets on board, again because of paucity of time, then who really is to be blamed? those who delay the projects and hence bring upon additional burden on the nation and city’s finances, or those who have to actually live with the delayed projects? Any project does come with its share of traffic snarls, road pits, dust etc, and the common man has to live with that on a daily basis, with the carrot being shown that its all for a brighter future and a good cause. And on top of it, he now needs to pay more, to ensure that he does see that future? So whom are we fooling when we do the planning and the budgeting for any project? With some of the smartest people on this planet, are we telling the world that we cannot accurately estimate the cost? or are we telling the world that we do not have the balls to complete any project on time?

Who really benefits from this thinking? As a common man, I would hate to pay more, in the name of completing delayed projects. But then, do i have a choice to not pay? What right does the common man have? Do i have the power to demand an election right away? If BJP can fall due to prices of onions, the Congress in Delhi has a thousand reasons for it to fall. Will it?

Till then, continue paying more, even as you see incomplete sites all around you. Keep seeing open manholes and pits. Keep breathing dust and dirty air. Keep dreaming of a clean river flowing through your city. Keep hoping that great games will happen. Keep dreaming.

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