India ready to host successful Games

With all resources at one place India readied itself to make a successful Commonwealth Games beginning in the national capital here on Sunday.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said they were sure the CWG will be a huge success. ” We are working round the clock to ensure its success,” she said while thousands of workers on Saturday were busy to make last minute preparations for the greatest show on earth at present.

The organisers said they were confident of putting on a great show at the 12-day event, whose cost has accelerated to an estimated 6 billion dollars from 100 million when India was awarded seven years ago, making the Games an expensive affair for a country like India where majority of the 1.2 billion people suffered from malnutrition.

Commonwealth nations, despite adverse publicity from domestic media regarding alleged siphoning of funds and delay in building the stadiums for venues, supported India so far to make October 3-14 Games a success.

Though some top ranking sport persons from few different nations pulled out citing personal ground, no Commonwealth country officially withdrew despite initial threatening for lack of hygiene and security threats.

There had even been fears the Games might have to be abandoned with several teams warning last week they could pull out.

But with the showpiece to be declared officially open on Sunday, thousands of athletes have arrived and the last-ditch desperate clean-up of the village seems to be paying off.

The competitors said they now wanted to put the controversies behind them and focus on doing their best at the Games, which India had hoped would allow the country to showcase itself as a dynamic emerging power.

The capital has been blanketed by massive security with 17,000 paramilitary troopers reinforcing 80,000 police to make the show a success.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram advised the participating nations to enjoy the games and win medals rather than apprehending about security.