Delhi Commonwealth Games Safety Certificates Faked

With barely two months to go before the Commonwealth Games start in October, the event has been caught up in a flood of allegations of rampant corruption.

The Times of India reported an official from the Central Vigilance Commission, an Indian Government watchdog body, as saying âfake certificates were routinely issued to pass substandard work and material," adding that other certificates were "suspect."

"We have not yet been able to gauge the financial implication but it is certain to have led to very big gains for vendors and contractors."

Troubles for the games' organisers mounted on Saturday as the cash-rich Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) rejected their appeal for a grant of one billion rupees (22 million dollars) to offset cost over-runs.

In a press release the BCCI explain âthe committee expressed its inability to agree to the request of the Commonwealth Games to be the lead partner by donating one billion rupees."

The 71 nation event is already the costliest Commonwealth Games in history, with an infrastructure and organising budget of US$2 billion, although unofficial estimates say the cost will be at least triple.

Indian Sports Minister M.S. Gill told Parliament on Friday that the cost of organising the event, dubbed the âShame Gamesâ by leading news magazine India Today, had risen 17.5 times since the bid was made in 2003.

Indian media on Saturday also reported a separate probe by Indian revenue authorities into allegations of irregular payouts by games organisers to a Britain-based firm.

The Hindustan Times and other local media said the investigations were launched following a request from British authorities.

"Already fighting off countless controversies, the Delhi Commonwealth Games looks headed towards more embarrassment," the mass-circulation Times of India said.

The opposition is demanding a judicial probe into allegations of corruption in construction of the games and has raised fears poor building standards could affect the safety of athletes.

The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee's chairman, Suresh Kalmadi, at a crowded news conference late Saturday, denied there had been any wrongdoing in issuing building quality certificates.

Kalmadi explained "I have been deeply pained at the baseless allegations of corruption. It is bad for the morale of the whole country," adding that allegations of shoddy construction had nothing to do with his committee.

"We are not looking at tenders. My job is to organise the games ⦠there is total transparency in the organising committee."

Opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Goel said that "forging and fudging of various quality and safety checks has widely thrown open the possibility of mishaps, blackouts and accidents."

The corruption charges come with Delhi looking like a giant construction site, with mounds of debris surrounding dug-up roads and walkways across the city as work goes on round-the-clock to get the capital ready for the games.

Monsoon rains drenching the city are making it even harder for work crews while the ground surrounding the complex being built to house athletes is still a sea of mud.

The games were seen as a chance to spotlight India's emerging economic superpower status after the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

But there is widespread scepticism whether the infrastructure will be ready in time, with critics deriding the preparations as "shambolic."
Agence France-Presse

29th July 2010 - VENUES NEAR COMPLETION FOR DELHI COMMONWEALTH GAMES

18th February 2010 - AL-QAEDA THREAT TO INDIAN EVENTS