India’s day of destiny finally arrived yesterday with the Commonwealth Games beginning in a fortress-like New Delhi after a shambolic run-up that threatened to derail the event.
Britain’s Prince Charles got the troubled showpiece underway at 9:30pm during a -Bollywood--inspired opening ceremony at the Jawaharal Nehru Stadium as the last-minute scramble to get set went to the wire.
Amid fears militants might attack the quadrennial competition, nearly 100,000 police and paramilitary forces had been drafted in to lockdown the Indian capital with all bazaars and malls ordered to close for the day.
Major traffic restrictions were also in place with security forces lining roads leading to high-walled stadiums encircled by barbed wire fences and armed guards posted behind sandbags. Cameras were monitoring public areas.
Since 2008, when Islamist militants killed 166 people in a 60-hour assault in Mumbai, India has been fearful the Games could be hit.
However, New Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal has promised “foolproof security,” adding that every officer “is on the job 24/7.”
So far the event has been a public relations disaster.
Many of the sports venues have only been completed in recent weeks, the athletes’ village was slammed for being “filthy” and equipment had been installed hastily as the clock reached zero.
Highlighting the last-minute rush, a new metro line linking central New Delhi with the main Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which was to ferry people to the opening ceremony, was only inaugurated yesterday morning.
Instead of showcasing emerging India, the Games have been a national embarrassment.
Even on the opening day of the Games, it was beset by another crisis when Indian health officials announced its first case of dengue fever, just hours before the opening ceremony.
Indian lawn bowling manager Ruptu Gogoi fell ill at the athletes’ village and was taken to the G.B. Pant Hospital on Friday, Rajiv Sagar told reporters.
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