India Tries to Learn from China Olympics

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Well, it's difficult to say what the scenario would have been if India had not won the bid to host the Commonwealth Games. But Delhi, one of the largest cities in India, badly needed the infrastructure improvement. According to official estimates, the capital's population in 2001 was 12.9 million and is estimated to go up to around 17 million this year. This is not taking into account contiguous suburban cities and towns such as Faridabad and Gurgaon in neighbouring Haryana, and Ghaziabad in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh that can push up the official figures to 21 million by this year. Compare this to China's capital city, which is a fast-growing metropolis, where the population grew by almost 16% from 2000 to 2006, reaching around 15.8 million.

Hence, it's no wonder that these two cities—dogged by lack of adequate urban infrastructure—are pulling out all stops to turn common perceptions about them on their heads. And in both cases, facilities are being built at break-neck speed.

Case in point: 2010 has been a deadline for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)'s key projects, which they took up in early 2007. In fact, the DMRC will construct around 125 km of Metro rail in Delhi and NCR (National Capital Region) in three-and-a-half years, keeping a strict deadline of August 2010. The lines include ones covering parts of Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon.

Also, the Commonwealth Games drove DMRC to place the 19-km-long airport express corridor—connecting Indira Gandhi international airport with New Delhi railway station—on a fast track. "Some of the lines will be completed by the end of 2009. And the rest of the key projects will be over by August 2010. By that time, Delhi Metro will connect all stadiums and most important pockets of Delhi," says a DMRC official.

Though the cost of event management for 2010 Commonwealth Games has been earmarked at mere Rs 900 crore, Delhi will be a major beneficiary, thanks to the long-term infrastructure projects being undertaken in the city now. This is again similar to Beijing's effort. The main venue for Beijing's Olympic Games—the 'Bird's Nest' stadium—designed by award-winning Swiss firm Herzog and de Meuron and Chinese architect Li Xinggang, will be used for a range of sports and entertainment events and other commercial operations after the games.

Though most of the core sector projects currently being undertaken in Delhi are linked to the 2010 Games, the resources for those are organised from sources other than the Games budget. However, the organising committee of the Games has made a provision of Rs 770 crore towards projects such as flyovers, subways and water supply that are direct needs of the Games. What's more, Delhi police will be given Rs 264 cr for beefing up security during the Games.

Adding to the gains list, thanks to the Olympics, Beijing will also join the most advanced traffic management cities in the world. Even in India, efficient traffic management during the Commonwealth Games could be the toughest job. In fact, the Indian city can draw a few lessons from the Chinese experience. An intelligent traffic management system will be available as a scientific instrument for Beijing's urban traffic management and the traffic organisation during the Olympics.

Here's how it works: A total of 126 intelligent road sensors have already been installed in Beijing. These sensors will transmit messages to the traffic signal control system once they detect vehicles waiting in the Olympics lane. Amitabh Bajpai, president of association for intelligent transport systems (AITS) India, says that all Indian cities must have traffic information management & control centre (TIMCC), which generates traffic data and coordinates the city's road network.

"Such a system provides the architecture for the present and future integration of modes of transport and other sub-sets such as emergency management systems (EMS), parking and tolling. The Commonwealth Games could provide a platform for fast-track implementation of ITS," he explains. Delhi is also getting an airport link express bus services soon.

Then, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) may spend about Rs 150 crore for developing air-conditioned luxury buses to ferry airline passengers from different parts of the city to the airport. It's proposed that passengers will be able to check-in within the bus, and baggage will be taken care of directly. "We will have an MoU with Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) soon. We have set mid-2009 as our deadline so that we have a good trial before the Commonwealth Games," says O P Agarwal, MD, Urban Mass Transit Company (UMTC), where both IL&FS and Central government have stakes.

In hindsight, in both cities, long time after the sports fans have gone home, the extensive renovations, which are taking place now, will form a large part of Beijing's and Delhi's sports legacy. They will not only give a whole new dimension to the sports facilities that these two cities sorely lacked, but might change the future—once and for all. For instance, the green technologies that are being showcased in many of Beijing's new buildings could have an impact on how buildings around China are designed for a long time. This is important since China is one of the biggest polluters in the world.

In the same vein, Delhi's multi-thousand crore rupees makeover might just change the way your kids reach school in the morning. All thanks to sports!