Is Delhi the Right Location for the Commonwealth Games?

The approach to the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games has been fractured to say the least. With building deadlines looming, fears over the conditions of the athletes village growing, Dengue fever spreading and top athletes withdrawing, the viability of the Games had been brought into question.

India is the largest country within the Commonwealth, boasting a population of 1.1 billion people – Commonwealth Games chief Mike Fennell has indicated that "you can't have the largest Commonwealth country make an acceptable offer and then not accept it".

This will be only the third time in 19 Games that the event will be hosted outside of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand or Canada.

Despite having the largest number of citizens, 300 million of the populace live on less than $1 a day, and it has been estimated that 10 million of Delhi’s 20 million residents live in slum-like conditions – raising questions over the prioritisation of resources allocated by the government.

The initial total budget estimation by the Indian Olympic Association in 2003 approximated to $358 million – though that figure had escalated to $2.5 billion by the official budget in 2010 - making the 2010 Commonwealth Games the most expensive in history.

Can Olympic-level investment be justified when it is greeted by a grotesque misuse of resources in countries that – whilst growing economically – remain desperately wrought with poverty?

For many the question is about legacy - re-using the extravagant facilities developed for such events is vital in justifying their presence. Athens 2004 failed to achieve this, with the now abandoned facilities symptomatic of the rash spending that almost bankrupted Greece. Is this set to be the case in Delhi? Will a vast party simply be greeted with a potentially vast hangover?

For a nation aspiring to gain a place on the world stage, have such disastrous preparations irreversibly damaged the international image of India? Or is the Commonwealth Games still salvageable?

Let us know your thoughts.