Rush to complete Games work compromising quality?

NEW DELHI - There is a mad scramble to finish Commonwealth Games projects with less than a month to go for the mega event. With the city hurrying to ready itself, questions are now being raised on the quality of work.

According to P.K. Sarkar, head of transport planning in the School of Planning and Architecture, the completion of works in a short duration is bound to compromise on the quality.

“In such a short time, how can we expect much work to completed? And if it is done to meet the deadline then quality will surely be compromised,” Sarkar told IANS.

Though the Games were allotted to India in 2003, court cases, paucity of funds and late planning delayed the projects. According to a Delhi government official, most of the major projects could be started only in 2008.

From the Games Village to the construction of flyovers like the one near Shyam Lal College in east Delhi were engulfed in court cases, leading to delayed start of the projects.

According to a government official, most of the major projects could be started only in 2008 as for five years since 2003, no progress was made as the cases were either pending in courts or objections were raised on an agency’s work by a rival, shortage of funds and also the lack of a monitoring authority.

There was also late launching of projects related to widening of roads, street lighting and putting up of signages, the official admited, coupled with the ambition of agencies to try and link as many projects as possible under the Games tag.

The Delhi government took up to 77 projects to spruce up the city before the Commonwealth Games. The construction and upgradation of stadiums were taken up in 2008 and most of them inaugurated by July 31, but most of them are still to get the no-objection certificates on fire-safety. The police are yet to take over the stadium because of the continuing work.

The Delhi government’s ambitious Barapullah elevated road project for linking east Delhi with Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was first approved in 2006. The earlier plan was to build a tunnel between the Games Village and the stadium, but this was rejected. In August 2008, the government decided to go ahead with the elevated road over Barapullah drain. The project is now likely to be inaugurated Sep 15.

Similarly, other projects like flyovers at Apsara border, widening of roads in several parts of the capital by Public Works Department (PWD) began in 2007. Almost 15 percent of the work, estimated to cost Rs.108 crore, remains to be completed, officials said.

Also, strengthening and resurfacing of roads by the PWD at a cost of Rs.260 crore is 90 percent complete and could take till mid-September to be over. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) started its share of the same project only this March and has to still finish 15 percent of the work.

The upgradation of public toilets awaits completion. The work was taken up by two agencies - Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and NDMC. While the MCD began work in February 2010, the NDMC did so in May 2008. With the August deadline over, the agencies are hurrying to finish. Some of the toilet upgradation work might not be ready before the Oct 3-14 event.

Work on signages and street lighting also started after 2008 and the MCD, NDMC as well as PWD are still to complete the work. There were defects in some of the street lighting work, like failed and defective lighting.

The much-touted renovation of the Connaught Place area, which was scheduled to begin in May 2008 was delayed and the Rs.671 crore project will now be completed only by December 2011.

“Various projects were taken to the court, while the rest faced the ire of agencies like the Archaeological Survey of India and Delhi Urban Arts Commission, which rejected many of our proposals,” the official added.

Even after inauguration of the stadiums, construction activities continue inside. However, the rush to finish the work early has led to leakages and roof collapse at many of the venues.

The Games projects also witnessed lack of coordination among various agencies, leading to delays. Even Delhi Police’s last-minute objections to some plans also added to the mess.

Sunil Vohra, president of the Delhi Municipal Contractors Association, said the rush to finish work has forced contractors to use “sub-standard products” from the markets.

“The rush to complete the projects before the Games has resulted in the use of sub-standard material by the contractors as they are bound to purchase the material from the market,” Vohra told IANS.

Vohra said delay in planning and late start of the tender process added to the woes as infrastructure-related work takes time to complete.

With reports of reports of leaking roofs, roads caving in, tiles cracking, even the common man is doubtful if work for the Games is up to the mark, even at the estimated cost of Rs.16,000 crore (over $3.2 billion).

“Everything was left for August and September. But given the kind of work going on in various areas, I don’t think the infrastructure legacy will last for long,” said Pradeep Gupta, a government employee.