New Delhi
The 2010 Commonwealth Games will cost the government exchequer
around Rs.230 billion ($5.70 billion) as against the initial
estimate of Rs.17.72 billion, according to an independent study
released Monday.
"In 2002, the Indian bid for the CWG was $422 million (Rs.1,772
crores)," said the study report, "How much does national prestige
cost?", complied by Hazards Centre and released here.
"However, since then the costs have escalated many times over. Even
if one were to add up all the expenses that have been made public so
far, the total amount comes to about Rs 23,000 crores," said the
city-based professional support group and resource centre.
The report provides a detailed break-up under separate heads,
estimating the total Games budget as of now at Rs.228.87 billion.
Speaking at a press conference held to release the report, senior
journalist Praful Bidwai said the Games would only widen the
rich-poor divide in the capital.
"The Games are aimed at making the poor and the underprivileged in
this city even more marginalized while allowing predatory
capitalists - particularly real estate players - prevail over the
city," he said.
Stating that the Games are part of a design to necessitate major
investment in the infrastructure, well-known architect and urban
designer K.T. Ravindran said: "The way they are implementing the
projects for the Games, it will cause serious environmental and
infrastructural damage to the city instead of improving these. This
apart, there will be serious demographic imbalances."
According to the report, thousands of small industrial units have
been closed down as have shops and neighbourhood stores in view of
the Games.
"The cycle rickshaw has been restricted; street vending has been
zoned out; and hundreds and thousands of slum dwellers are being
uprooted and pushed to the periphery of the city," it stated.
According to Ravindran, thousands of labourers will have to be
brought from outside the city and no one could know for sure whether
they would get basic amenities during their stay here.
"We know how labourers after the 1982 Asian Games (in Delhi) settled
in huge slums across the city," he said.
"These labourers are usually brought in through middlemen and the
main contractor or the government agency concerned does not know
where they would be brought from. Will the government provide decent
living conditions for the families of these workers in the next two
years?" he asked.
According to the report, labour protection measures are often
sacrificed because of the urgency of preparing for the Games.
It stated that the event would take a heavy toll on environment too.
"Apart from pollution, the biggest damage that the Games would cause
is the destruction of the Yamuna flood plain," said Bidwai.
"When you mess around with a natural flood plain, you destroy
natural irrigation systems and natural fresh water discharge
capacity.
"There is no evidence that such events popularise sports in the
years to follow. All infrastructure remains grossly unutilised," he
said.
According to the report, the Games would also leave the city in
debt. Sydney ran up debt that would take 10 years to clear after the
2000 Olympic games. Similarly, Athens, host of the 2004 Olympiad,
has a 20-year debt liability.
"Is Rs.23,000 crore for a 10-day sports festival in a country with
such unemployment and other socio-economic problems justified?"
asked Hazards Centre director Dunu Roy.
"Why is it that a government that won't spend Rs.25,000 crore (Rs.
250 billion) on the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)
or allocate even two percent of the budget for health is going ahead
with the Games?", he asked, adding that as many as eight Right to
Information applications by Hazards Centre in connection with the
Games have not been replied to.
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