India to stage biggest-ever Games
NEW DELHI, Oct 2 AFP - India raced Saturday to put finishing touches
on preparations for the biggest-ever Commonwealth Games with the start
just a day away -- hoping to make the event a success story after a
shambolic run-up.
Organisers promised a Bollywood-inspired opening extravaganza on
Sunday with singers and dancers showcasing India's diverse culture with
dazzling sound and light effects and a performance by Oscar-winning
composer A.R. Rahman.
"We're sure the Games will be a huge success," Delhi Chief Minister
Sheila Dikshit after inspecting sites. "We're working around the clock."
Officials said they expected the final tally of athletes to touch
6,700, topping the 2006 Melbourne Games' record of 5,766 participants.
"Delhi 2010 will be the biggest-ever Commonwealth Games," secretary
general of the Games organizing committee Lalit Bhanot said, with over
5,800 athletes and officials already in the Indian capital.
But amid fears militants might attack the quadrennial competition,
New Delhi was a fortress with 17,000 paramilitary troopers reinforcing
80,000 police.
Security forces lined roads leading to high-walled stadiums encircled
by barbed wire fences, armed guards were posted behind sandbag positions
and sentries watched from watchtowers. Cameras monitored public areas.
Since 2008, when Pakistan-based Islamist militants killed 166 people
in a 60-hour assault in Mumbai, India has been fearful the Games, which
feature 71 nations and territories formerly belonging to the British
Empire, could be hit.
Western governments have persistently warned of the threat of a
militant attack during the Games which run until October 14.
Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal promised "foolproof security"
but called the Games a "moment of challenge" and urged all citizens to
be on their guard.
Every police officer "is on the job 24/7. Most are working and
sleeping at the police station," he told a news conference on the eve of
the Games. Dadwal's statements came as US Central Intelligence Agency
chief Leon Panetta made a stopover in New Delhi to discuss the Games and
regional security threats after visiting Pakistan for talks, the Press
Trust of India reported.
India was deeply embarrassed by revelations about rampant corruption
in the lead-up to the Games -- the six-billion-dollar event is hugely
over budget -- and "filthy" conditions in the athletes' village that
threatened to turn the event into a national humiliation.
India had hoped to showcase itself as a dynamic emerging superpower
and deliver an event to rival the spectacular Beijing Olympics. But the
country's old image of inefficient bureaucracy, poor infrastructure,
graft and squalor was broadcast around the world by the international
media and was tagged India's "Shame Games" by local newspapers.
However, by Saturday, a last-minute sprint to clean up the village
and prepare the venues appeared to be paying off. "The venues are
outstanding and we're really looking forward to competing there," Wales
chef de mission Chris Jenkins told reporters.
Athletes said they now were focusing on doing their best at the
Games.
"There are so many fantastic athletes here at these Commonwealth
Games and being a part of that is such a big thrill," said Australian
netball captain Sharelle McMahon.
Some high-profile athletes have withdrawn due to health and security
fears.
Foreign spectators will also be far fewer than the 100,000 organisers
had hoped for with worries about an outbreak of dengue fever -- a
potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease -- the chaotic preparations and
fear of militant attacks deterring many.
But Mike Andrews, a chef who travelled from London, said he planned
to enjoy the Games and had even purchased a vuvuzela horn whose
low-pitched bellow drove many to distraction at the soccer World Cup in
South Africa.
"I want to watch some good sports," he said.
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