【英语国际】印度英联邦运动会筹备陷入泥潭

New Delhi’s weightlifting stadium, which was frenziedly built for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, resembles a bloated, mushroom-shaped storage shed with a cream-coloured corrugated tin roof.

On a rainy morning, workers clambered across the roof to plug leaks, while an engineer waited for permission to enter the stadium to test electrical equipment. Even with things way behind schedule, security guards spent ages debating whether to allow him in because his pass had expired.

The farcical scene was a symptom of the malaise afflicting India’s preparations to host the games, which have been dogged by allegations of corruption, mismanagement, and inadequate facilities.

While China impressed the world with the almost flawless Beijing Olympics, India’s preparations for the Commonwealth Games symbolise its difficulties rolling out high-quality infrastructure, one of the biggest threats to its economic ascent.

“It’s really exposed the sheer inefficiencies and porousness of the state,” said Swapan Dasgupta, a political commentator. “It’s a celebration of shoddiness, which seems to be one of the features of our system.”

Hopes that the games would help India jettison its image of poverty and stifling bureaucracy and project itself as an emerging superpower have already been dashed.

With international athletes due to start arriving in less than three weeks, Indian authorities are scrambling to finish 17 stadiums and the athletes’ village. They are also trying to make the capital feel less like a giant construction site, though the last-minute effort is being hampered by the heaviest monsoon rains in a decade.

Inspecting the facilities last week, Mike Fennell, the Commonwealth Games president, put on a brave face even as he expressed concern about the poor quality of the athletes’ accommodation, provisions for water and sanitation at the athletes’ village, and arrangements for ensuring hygienic food preparation.

“We don’t have any time left,” he warned. “There is a tremendous amount of detailed work that needs to be done. We need to pay attention to that and be sure that whatever else is going on, we don’t lose sight of the ball.”

New Delhi had ample notice that its hosting of the Commonwealth Games – awarded to it in 2003 at the peak of global euphoria over India as an emerging power – was in serious risk of falling far short of international expectations.

A year ago, India’s auditor-general warned about a potential “major embarrassment” as projects stalled owing to inadequate funds, delay in approvals, frequent changes in venue designs and poor co-ordination among the 21 government agencies involved.

“For the London Olympics, the buck stops with Sebastian Coe and Boris Johnson,” said Suhel Seth, a brand adviser. “In India, the buck never stops. It just keeps floating around in the system.”

Land acquisition, the bane of many Indian infrastructure and industrial problems, was another headache, which, along with lawsuits, delayed progress at several key sites, including one that authorities now admit will not be ready in time.

Allegations of corruption – another Indian scourge – have also dogged preparations. Assessing the 16 stadium improvements, the Central Vigilance Commission found agencies had “jacked up” prices while compromising on quality. It said concrete samples from some sites had failed independent basic strength tests and alleged that test records appeared to have been forged.

Indian media have had a field day reporting on accusations of inflated prices for supplies from toilet paper to medical equipment, and conflicts of interest between games organisers and companies awarded private contracts, which led to the suspension of three games officials earlier this month.

Meanwhile, equipment for some sports events is still stuck in customs. Delhi is now in the grip of a serious outbreak of dengue fever which has been blamed on the puddles and piles of rubble lying around thesites and dug-up roads – all fertile breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Security is another worry, given the terror attacks in India.

But with India’s Congress-led coalition becoming aware of the potential debacle, Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born party leader, urged Indians last week to stop the blame game and “come together” to make the event a success. “The prestige of the nation is involved,” she said. Afterwards, New Delhi would investigate corruption and “spare no one” found to be involved.

新德里为即将召开的英联邦运动会(Commonwealth Games)疯狂赶建的举重场馆，看上去就像一个蘑菇状的充气仓库，顶着一个奶油色的瓦楞铁皮屋顶。

在一个下雨的早晨，工人们吃力地爬过屋顶，去封堵漏洞，而一位工程师则在等待进入场馆的许可，以检测电子设备。尽管各项准备工作都远远落后于原定计划，但保安人员还是花了很长时间讨论是否应准许他进场，因为他的通行证已经过期了。

如此荒唐的一幕反映了印度在筹备该运动会期间所遭遇的困境——腐败指控、管理不当及设备匮乏等问题一直困扰着印度的筹备工作。

中国用几乎完美的北京奥运会给世界留下了难忘的回忆，而印度此次英联邦运动会的筹备工作，则暴露出它在建设高质量基础设施方面的短处，这也是该国经济崛起面临的最大威胁之一。

政治评论人士施瓦潘?达斯古普塔(Swapan Dasgupta)表示：“印度政府极其缺乏效率和漏洞百出由此暴露无遗。这场盛会宣扬了我们的虚有其表，而这似乎是印度体制的特色之一。”

人们原本希望，印度能借举办运动会之机，摆脱贫穷和官僚作风令人窒息的形象，进而将自己塑造成一个新兴的超级强国。现如今，这些希望都已破灭。

再有不到三周时间，各国运动员就将陆续抵达，而印度政府还在手忙脚乱地为17座场馆和运动员村进行收尾工作。他们还试图粉饰场面，让新德里看起来不那么像一个巨大的建筑工地，但一场10年来最严重的季风雨令这些最后的努力雪上加霜。

上周在检查场馆时，即使忧虑重重，英联邦运动会主席麦克?芬内尔(Mike Fennell)还是摆出一副无畏的表情。他对运动员糟糕的住宿条件、运动员村饮用水供应和卫生条件、以及卫生食品供应保障方面的安排都表示出了担忧。

“我们剩下的时间不多了，”芬内尔警告称。“我们还有大量的具体工作要做。我们必须全神贯注于此，并确保无论发生什么，都不能分散注意力。”

新德里已收到大量警告，即它主办的英联邦运动会极有可能远远达不到国际社会的预期。新德里是在2003年获得主办权的，当时印度崛起为一个新兴大国在全球范围内掀起的兴奋情绪达到了顶峰。

一年前，印度总审计长警告称，因资金不足、批准被耽搁、场馆设计频繁变动、以及21个相关政府部门之间协调不力，项目一再拖延，这可能让印度陷入“相当尴尬”的境地。

品牌咨询师苏赫尔?塞思(Suhel Seth)表示：“对于伦敦奥运会而言，责任止于伦敦奥组委主席塞巴斯蒂安?科(Sebastian Coe)和伦敦市长鲍里斯?约翰逊(Boris Johnson)。但在印度，责任永无止境。整个体系一直在互相推卸责任。”

另一个令人头疼的问题是土地征用，这也是印度许多基建和工业问题的祸根。这个问题，连同法律诉讼，拖延了数个关键场馆的建设进展。有关部门现已承认有一个场馆将不能按时完工。

印度的另一个祸端——腐败指控同样困扰着准备工作。在评估16个场馆的改进工作时，印度中央监察委员会(Central Vigilance Commission)发现，一些机构“抬高”了价格，同时却降低了质量。该委员会称，部分场馆的混凝土样本未能通过独立的基本强度测试，并指称，测试记录似乎是伪造的。

印度媒体抓住机会对这些指控大肆报道，包括从厕纸到医疗设备等各种物品被虚抬的价格，以及运动会主办方与获得私人合同的企业之间存在的利益冲突——本月早些时候，三名运动会官员因上诉指控被暂时停职。

与此同时，一些体育赛事相关设备仍滞留在海关。德里眼下爆发了一轮严重的登革热，人们将这归咎于建设工地和挖开的道路周围遍布的水坑和瓦砾堆——这些都是蚊虫的滋生地。鉴于印度境内频发的恐怖袭击，安保也成了一个问题。

但印度国大党领导的执政联盟已经逐渐意识到运动会有可能惨遭失败，出生于意大利的国大党领导人索尼娅?甘地(Sonia Gandhi)上周号召印度人民停止指责游戏，“团结起来”确保运动会成功举办。“这涉及到民族声望，”她表示。运动会结束后，印度政府将调查腐败问题，“绝不饶恕”任何涉案人员。

译者/陈云飞