The New Delhi is on its way to become a global city by the year 2010. As the idea may seem improbable to any Delhiite, it is not. The signs of a bright future are already visible with the infrastructural development on the rise. As 2010 Commonwealth Games are around the corner, the development on the various fronts have been expedited in the past few years. Once the plans are implemented, the city will be finally amongst the great metropolises of the world.

Infrastructure Development

The city boasts of modern elements of infrastructure like pollution checks, mass rapid transit and state-of-the-art highways. To give a makeover to the city for Commonwealth Games, the Indian Government is shelling out $17.5 billion on overall civic infrastructure. New streets and roads, overall city modernization, city beautification, development of public transport, new power plants, water supply services, Games Village, good connectivity, traffic management, security services and health services are some of the elements on which the works are underway.

The expansion of Delhi's Rapid Mass Transit System (Delhi Metro) is underway to cater to more passengers and boost public transportation. By the year 2010, Delhi Metro will be world's second largest network.

Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport is undergoing a major makeover. A new two tier terminal – Terminal 3 – will be operational by the 2010 Games. This will serve more than 35 million people a year. The bottom level of this terminal will be used for arrivals while the top level will be that of departures area. With high-end devices and sophistications, the facility will match global standards. A new runway will also be operational to handle more than 75 flights per hour. With a length of 4.4-km, this runway will be one of Asia's longest.

A 4-lane, 2.2 km long tunnel from Ring Road to Lodhi Road will link Games Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The tunnel will reduce traveling time for athletes by 6 minutes. High Capacity Bus System will be introduced by year 2010. Six corridors with a total length of 115 km have been identified for which around Rs 1000 crore has been earmarked. By the year 2009, 10,000 buses will be replaced with new vehicles which will have pneumatic doors and low floorboards to ensure easy boarding and de-boarding as well as an automatic vehicle tracking system connected to GPS for monitoring purposes.

Integrated Rail Bus Transit System project is also proposed which will connect the capital with its suburbs.

In view of large number of trains passing daily by Delhi region, new road under-bridges and over-bridges are under construction along the railway lines. New cloverleafs, flyovers and bridges are under construction for providing connectivity to sports venues, Games Village, hotels and hospitals.

Road-widening projects are underway. Efforts are also underway to make both the inner and outer Ring Roads signal free. A 225-km-long “Super Ring Road” around the periphery of the city is proposed.

To meet the power requirements and to provide additional power during the games, a mammoth power-production project is in the pipeline. This will increase production of electricity to 7000 MW from the current 4500 MW. Two new gas-based power plants are being constructed in Bawana and Pragati to achieve this end. It is expected that New Delhi will have surplus power. Load-shedding would be a term youngsters will need to look up in the dictionary.

Water and solid waste management are two areas for which New Delhi needs to work its socks off. Efforts are underway to improve on these fronts as well. Rainwater harvesting is another priority front to prepare for the water problem before it boils up into crisis.

Keeping an eye on 2010 Commonwealth Games, it is needless to say that New Delhi will be a better place with more hotels and restaurants, golf courses, swimming pools, leisure parks, health clubs, theaters, entertainment centers, global cuisine, multiplexes and shopping arcades which will definitely storm its cultural landscape.

New Delhi is all set for the mega event. The signs are all there for Delhi to become a global megapolis.