Preparing Delhi for Commonwealth Games

Although the games are just under three years away, India's capital is being reshaped as the city prepares for the biggest sporting event in its history. The Delhi government has begun putting up posters saying the capital will be transformed into a "world-class city" by the 2010 deadline.

There will be the new underground lines, lavish stadiums and even a hi-tech ambulance service that is guaranteed to get to people in 15 minutes. Most notable are the prestige projects meant to dispel most visitors' first impression that India is a country soaked in poverty.

Delhi's main railway station, which currently doubles as a home for the destitute, will be replaced by a 212-acre glass and steel structure.

The city's new seven-storey airport, designed to handle 50m passengers, aims to be open by 2010. The authorities also plan to ban 400,000 bicycle rickshaws, regularly seen pedalling across city flyovers, and order the remaining 100,000 to take a driving test.

However, campaigners say that the rush to modernise is bringing "unsuitable" development to many parts of the capital. Environmentalists highlight the case of the athletes' village, a luxury riverside development in Delhi, which is now being considered by the courts.

The banks of the river Yamuna, which runs through the capital, had been off-limits to developers. For almost 60 years only farmers were allowed to use the fertile banks to grow vegetables for local markets. However, last September work began on the complex, which consists of 1,100 luxury flats, tennis courts and swimming pools. The initial cost is estimated at 5 trillion rupees (£63m).

Environmentalists claim that when the Yamuna next bursts its banks the water will inundate residential areas further downstream.

"The land was leased to farmers and in the agreement there was a provision that the state could have it back for public purposes," said Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, the non-governmental organisation taking Delhi city to court. "But what is the public purpose? The Commonwealth games runs for two weeks. What is the use after that? This is a predatory state in action taking land from the poor to hand to the rich."

The Delhi government has admitted that there were some concerns expressed by the "environmental agencies", but the project would go ahead.

Accommodation for Common Wealth Games is also giving Delhi Govt. a major headache, with dearth of quality accommodation in Delhi.

When India beat Canada in 2003 to win the right to host the Commonwealth Games, few of the capital's 15m people were ready for the upheaval. Slums have been demolished, shopping malls brought down and "greening measures" adopted. The facelift, including new roads and power plants, is estimated to cost the Indian taxpayer more than £10bn. The organising committee recently said that India might want to focus on preparing its athletes, rather than infrastructure.