An estimated Rs 10,014.89 crore will be spent on just basic civic infrastructure, such as roads, to prepare Delhi for the Games, and five state government agencies are involved in the projects. However, none of the projects are anywhere near the finishing line — only two projects are halfway completed, including the Geeta Colony bridge in east Delhi which is scheduled to open in March.

These worrying figures are a part of the status report on the Commonwealth Games drawn up by the Delhi government recently. The report focuses on the state agencies only, though a number of Central agencies are also involved in the projects.

The maximum number of projects, 26, are with the Public Works Department — some of them most crucial for a successful Commonwealth Games. Nine PWD projects have not taken off simply due to administrative red tape, awaiting approval from agencies such as the DDA Technical Committee and the Delhi Urban Arts Commission.

So frustrated is the state government that for the Rs 46.57-crore Neela Hauz project, which involves construction of a bridge at the Nuclear Science Centre, the Delhi Chief Secretary has directed the PWD to “start work without waiting for formal clearance”. Some work, such as construction of a grade separator on the GT Road (No. 56) near Apsara Bridge, cannot be started as the agency is still awaiting transfer of land from the Uttar Pradesh government.

The DDA on the other hand has four major projects on hand — the Rs 500-crore Commonwealth Games Village, the Rs 317 crore practice venue at the Village, development of competition venues at Siri Fort Sports Complex and the Yamuna Sports complex. Of these, only the residential component of the Games Village has taken off — 2 per cent of the work has been carried out so far. Ironically, this component isn’t being constructed by the DDA, but by Emaar-MGF.

The MCD is in charge of most of the road construction and improvement projects, 18 in number, for the Games. The projects involve quick links to all Games venues from different parts of the city. “The road projects are to ensure that there are no congestions on the way to the venues,” said senior officials in the Delhi government. However, only two of these have taken off so far — the road under bridge on the level crossing near Vivek Vihar (5 per cent work completed) and the road under bridge at Sarai Kale Khan (30 per cent work carried out).

Moreover, the Delhi government has cleared the Mono Rail from Delhi University to Pulbangash (17 km) and Kondli to Daryaganj (13 km), and the Light Rail Transit System from Badarpur to Mehrauli (11 km), Qutub Minar to Dwarka Sector 22 (17 km) and Saket to IG Stadium (15 km). A senior government official said neither of these projects are likely to be completed by 2010.