Currie: CWG could be called off

[Abu Zolfiqar]

fod God's sakes yaar!!! Was it really even necessary to build a stupid athletes village? You have hotels in your capital, why not have put them up there??

it would have been a double whammy, since those athletes would be closer to city life and the shopping centers --contributing more towards the economy and what not


athletes village was by far the stupidest idea imaginable.....what will they be used for when the event is officially over? Collecting dust?

sorry to sound all critical; but it boggles my mind

 

[lunnn]

It is not fair to compare the New Delhi CWG with the Beijing Olympic but how about compare it with the Asian Games held in Guangzhou in November.The size are similar and there are also a lot of cirtisized of the corruption scandals for the Infrustrature of the Games .

 

[Skeptic]

fod God's sakes yaar!!! Was it really even necessary to build a stupid athletes village? You have hotels in your capital, why not have put them up there??

it would have been a double whammy, since those athletes would be closer to city life and the shopping centers --contributing more towards the economy and what not


athletes village was by far the stupidest idea imaginable.....what will they be used for when the event is officially over? Collecting dust?

sorry to sound all critical; but it boggles my mind

Nope they are already sold out for use after games. Prices staring 3 Crores INR for a 3 bedroom flat.

Actually the location of the village has been developed and connectivity etc is best in Delhi. It was supposed to be the address for the high fliers of course.

Some MPs even demanded a percentage of the flats to be allocated to them at subsidized price. I am not sure how many were handed over already by MR MGF for getting the construction contract.

 

[StingRoy]

@Abu... Games Villages are a part of the standard infrastructure provided in any multi-national event. It allows the organizers to effectively manage the participants and media around to the event centers... plus you cannot stay thousands of people in hotels.

After the games these apartments will be handed over to the public... last I heard they were going for around $600K-$700K USD (around 3-4 crore rupees), which tells you how prized are these property in Delhi.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Making fun at the back of a terror strike which targets civilians is certainly disgusting, but folks on your side including yourself have been guilty of same, having refered to Mumbai terror strike as Mumbai drama a number of times.

drama mostly refers to the face-to-face confrontational turn of events between Pakistan and india SUBSEQUENT to the attack (political cross-chatter, Air Force maneuvers, chest-thumping and rising ultra-nationalism and defensive posturing on both sides etc.)

at least that's how i view it; you need to only look at few of my posts to know i deplored the mumbai attacks; similar how i deplore any attack in which civilians are killed around the globe

I can easily turn it around and call that Karma too..... Payback.. you know..

against Sri Lankans or Pakistanis?

And its a never ending circle. Sure, you can have your share of fun on the CWG embarrasing statements from western media. And I for one will not cry foul.

well some of the reports have brought me some form of a comical relief from an otherwise stressful worklife.

i do genuinely feel sorry for indians because i know if i were in their shoes i would be fuming angry...and i usually try to avoid emotions, since outbursts and raving are not my style

Tomorrow there will be something similarly embarrasing for Pakistan in the same media and folks from this side of the border will have a field day.

it's a possibility....

i read accounts of some indians who openly admitted to ''popping champagne in celebration after every bomb blast in Pakistan''

(verbatim!)

Guess thats what we have been doing most of the time these days on defence.pk. Blowing steam that is..

very representative of the relations between both countries for 6+ decades!



life goes on!



from indian standpoint; if I were PM i would make a national address and demand (not ask, but DEMAND) that indians who care about their national prestige should put on some rags, be willing to get their hands dirty, and help with salvaging the event

and for every blunder, heads should roll (literally)



accountability is novel concept in South Asian theatre

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Nope they are already sold out for use after games. Prices staring 3 Crores INR for a 3 bedroom flat.

Actually the location of the village has been developed and connectivity etc is best in Delhi. It was supposed to be the address for the high fliers of course.

Some MPs even demanded a percentage of the flats to be allocated to them at subsidized price. I am not sure how many were handed over already by MR MGF for getting the construction contract.

what will the policy be on keeping pets? i presume on some floors there will be complimentary ''pooch''

 

[Skeptic]

what will the policy be on keeping pets? i presume on some floors there will be complimentary ''pooch''

Howzzat for getting Bang for your Buck.
Sure will, if the foreign athletes dont fall in love with em and take them back after the game.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

sai sai....

but tell me seriously, what was the point of wasting money on these athletic village buildings?


from purely macroeconomic (and even micro) perspective, indian would have gained from putting them up in the hotels......hotels would then make their pricing most competitive --and we all know in market economy competition is healthy....easily the state could have subsidized VIP transport for them

that would have been cheaper, and still most economically effective method.

 

[Peshwa]

sai sai....

but tell me seriously, what was the point of wasting money on these athletic village buildings?


from purely macroeconomic (and even micro) perspective, indian would have gained from putting them up in the hotels......hotels would then make their pricing most competitive --and we all know in market economy competition is healthy....easily the state could have subsidized VIP transport for them

that would have been cheaper, and still most economically effective method.

I suppose the advantage is that you're getting development, residential and public at the cost of CWG.....
Since CWG's funds are used to build these, we reap the benefits of selling these flats at the exhorbitant Delhi prices.....

Other reasons why a Games Village is important are:
The athletes need to train and hotels dont provide international standard training facilities
Athletes cannot be stuck in traffic etc, hence they need convinient accomodation
Hotels cannot provide the athletes privacy from gawking tourists and locals who choose to use the services of the hotel.....
Im sure you know how expensive hotels get.....accomodating a team from one single country like Aus may take an entire hotel.....leave aside the incredible cost

 

[Skeptic]

sai sai....

but tell me seriously, what was the point of wasting money on these athletic village buildings?


from purely macroeconomic (and even micro) perspective, indian would have gained from putting them up in the hotels......hotels would then make their pricing most competitive --and we all know in market economy competition is healthy....easily the state could have subsidized VIP transport for them

that would have been cheaper, and still most economically effective method.

Actually it does make sense. It can - under normal circumstances - become a housing project providing and actually earn a lot of revenue for the government. The village has good infrastructure and facilities and through sale of these flats govt. can earn revenue.

It worked very well for the Games village for 1982 asian games, which made south delhi essentially the poshest area of Delhi (Which it still remains). Delhi does need quality housing of International standard and since the village is in the heart of the city - they sell like hot potatoes.

Hotels are anyways expected to be over booked due to visitors coming to watch the games and revenue will be generated. If Athletes are stationed in Hotels - then organizing committee has to put up with the cost - which no doubt will be enormous for more than 7000 athletes and their support staff.

So by building Games Village not only do they cut down on the cost of accommodation - rather gain some revenue by selling these flats in open market while improving the infrastructure of the city. Also the training facilities needs to be provided to the athletes.

 

[Skeptic]

BTW I was wondering why has noone mentioned the highly symbolic disaster of Aerostat Baloon (supposedly the star attraction) being deflated. Much similar to deflation of .... we all know what.

The build-up:
Aerostat: The Commonwealth Games star attraction

And the snag:

Trouble in the air: 50cr aerostat develops snag - Hindustan Times

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

ok i was under a false impression that the athlete village bill was being paid for out of indian pockets; traffic issue is also a relevant point i guess though ive never been to delhi --i assume its as bad if not worse than downtown Karachi


you know how these westerners are....any sense of danger or harm and they hide under their covers for days.

South Asians are a bit more fatalistic in their thinking. That's why you see guys sitting on top of buses and trains and dangling outside of open doors rather than waiting an extra 20 minutes


in my opinion --best way to ''save face'' as far as villages are concerned --- turn it into subsidized housing projects for low income people....at this point, its a sunk cost. There may be stigma attached to it for the rich. It can be utilized for this purpose

though then it may cause more problems than solutions....poor people will be stampeding and smashing eachother in order to secure a unit for themself and their family ---and it could lead to further corruption.


I dunno, just thinking aloud.

 

[Skeptic]

^^^

The place has already been sold out.

As for the westerners being scared - It is just the money which talks. No pullout in the IPL even when there was a blast outside the stadium and some direct threats. Athletes in CWG do not see the same quantum of money - so they are scared for their security.

If Pakistan starts a League offering astronomical amounts of money - you will see em lining up before you can say PCB.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

i love our team since birth....

PCB is a terrorist, inept organization

 

[karan.1970]

drama mostly refers to the face-to-face confrontational turn of events between Pakistan and india SUBSEQUENT to the attack (political cross-chatter, Air Force maneuvers, chest-thumping and rising ultra-nationalism and defensive posturing on both sides etc.)

at least that's how i view it; you need to only look at few of my posts to know i deplored the mumbai attacks; similar how i deplore any attack in which civilians are killed around the globe

Then I may have misunderstood your remarks, but surely there were others which were carrying the tone of serves India right and thats what I was refering to.

against Sri Lankans or Pakistanis?

By fate against Pakistanis

well some of the reports have brought me some form of a comical relief from an otherwise stressful worklife.

i do genuinely feel sorry for indians because i know if i were in their shoes i would be fuming angry...and i usually try to avoid emotions, since outbursts and raving are not my style

Yeah.. I can understand the comic relief... About fuming, I really dont think so since a lot of us have actually gotten used to this administrative incompetence .

As my boss at work once put it.. We are growing not because of our political system, but despite it...

it's a possibility....

i read accounts of some indians who openly admitted to ''popping champagne in celebration after every bomb blast in Pakistan''

(verbatim!)

Well, I was refering to something more benign like the recent match fixing fiasco.

As I said, scoring points on the back of civilians getting killed (no matter what nationality) is as disgusting as it gets. I agree that there will be Indians who do this celebration (at least metaphorically).. Still as deplorable as it gets..

very representative of the relations between both countries for 6+ decades!



life goes on!

So true

from indian standpoint; if I were PM i would make a national address and demand (not ask, but DEMAND) that indians who care about their national prestige should put on some rags, be willing to get their hands dirty, and help with salvaging the event

and for every blunder, heads should roll (literally)



accountability is novel concept in South Asian theatre

Yeah.. We South asians have a knack of finding the worse possible people to run our countries and lives.

About Indians getting their hands dirty, well that has been happening for last couple of weeks. I personally have spent last 2 saturdays cleaning areas around the main stadium along with about 400 people from my work place. And a lot of other corporates are doing the same. And thats another reflection of how negative our media has become. This positive aspect did not make it to any news.. Even local city news..