Delhi bears the look of a mammoth construction site, as plucky migrant laborers scurry to build — and rebuild — roads and stadiums as they melt under the concrete- and asphalt-withering rains of the monsoon. But the worst news is yet to come.
Delhi's big dig has left stagnant water all over the city, breeding a huge swarm of aedes mosquitoes just in time for dengue fever season.
Malaysia and Australia have issued travel advisories and expressed concerns about their athletes.
Nevertheless, alarm there is. And that's bad news for the games' planners, who oversold the event's ability to attract tourists — claiming they'd recoup most of the costs from travelers — before spending spiraled to $4.6 billion, or nine times the original estimate. So far, England's Queen Elizabeth and a host of top athletes have said they have prior commitments, and just 16,000 of the 170,000 tickets allotted for sale abroad have found takers. Mounting fears about dengue won't make selling the rest any easier.
The trial run of a traffic plan reserving road lanes for vehicles that will ferry Commonwealth Games athletes and officials was conducted Sunday by the Delhi traffic police in south Delhi’s Lodhi Colony area.
In the coming weeks, trials will be held on roads near the airport, the Games village, the Thyagaraj Stadium and other Games venues.
‘Initially, the trials will be carried out on weekends and later during weekdays. This arrangement will help commuters understand the special traffic movement during the Games,’ Garg added.
Meanwhile, many commuters feel that the traffic congestion during the Games may get worse, particularly on two-laned roads as these are already carrying more traffic than their capacity.
Speaking about the traffic arrangements during the Games, Garg said: ‘We are planning out ways so that no traffic congestion will happen during the Games.’
‘Traffic police will hold talks with the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) officials and we will jointly come out with a plan to ease traffic during the event,’ he said.
Planning Planning Planning no solutions.
Best of luck to all delhites from 20 Sept to 15 Oct.
May God Be With u.
