New Delhi: Residents of Delhi will have to
pay a huge price for the development work carried out for the
Commonwealth Games, claims a study conducted by an NGO.
According to the study conducted by Hazard Centre,
"within the next 25 to 30 years, each resident of the city
will have to pay a debt in form of increased prices of land,
basic commodities and petrol."
The consequences of mega events are years of locked-up
investments, low returns and long term debts -- all of which
have to be eventually paid by the citizens through increased
taxes, prices and cesses, the report claimed.
Prices of land, housing and rent rates shoot up sharply
along with increase in the average cost of living due to hike
in prices of transportation, food and basic commodities, the
report titled 'Heritage Games' said.
It said cities hosting large-scale events like Olympics,
World Cup and Commonwealth Games have plunged into huge debts
after suffering losses and attributed the economic crisis in
Greece to its USD 16,600 million "adventure" of Athens
Olympics six years ago.
Mexico, Seoul, Barcelona and Sydney are among cities that
have incurred huge losses after hosting mega sports events, it
said.
The report claimed that the costs of most Games projects
have tripled and has even gone up by 40 times in certain cases
in the four years between 2006 and 2010.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, September 26, 2010, 10:24