India poised to stage biggest Games

India raced yesterday to put finishing touches to preparations for the biggest Commonwealth Games, with the start just a day away – hoping to make the event a success story after a shambolic run-up.

Organisers promised a Bollywood-inspired opening extravaganza for today with singers and dancers showcasing India’s diverse culture with dazzling sound and light effects and a performance by Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman.

“We’re sure the Games will be a huge success,” Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said after inspecting sites. “We’re working around the clock.”

Officials said they expected the final tally of athletes to touch 6,700, topping the 2006 Melbourne Games’ record of 5,766 participants.

“Delhi 2010 will be the biggest ever Commonwealth Games,” secretary general of the Games organizing committee Lalit Bhanot said, with over 5,800 athletes and officials already in the Indian capital.

But amid fears militants might attack the quadrennial competition, New Delhi was a fortress with 17,000 paramilitary troopers reinforcing 80,000 police.

Security forces lined roads leading to high-walled stadiums encircled by barbed wire fences, armed guards were posted behind sandbag positions and sentries watched from watchtowers. Cameras monitored public areas.

Since 2008, when Pakistan-based Islamist militants killed 166 people in a 60-hour assault in Mumbai, India has been fearful the Games, which feature 71 nations and territories formerly belonging to the British Empire, could be hit.

Western governments have persistently warned of the threat of a militant attack during the Games, which run until October 14.

Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal promised “foolproof security” but called the Games a “moment of challenge” and urged citizens to be on guard.

Dadwal’s statements came as US Central Intelligence Agency chief Leon Panetta made a stopover in New Delhi to discuss the Games and regional security threats after visiting Pakistan for talks.

Britain’s Prince Charles, sent by Queen Elizabeth to represent her at the Games’ opening ceremony, arrived in the capital.

The 84-year-old monarch, the ceremonial head of the Commmonwealth, is giving the event a miss for the first time, pleading a hectic schedule.

India was deeply embarrassed by revelations about rampant corruption in the lead-up to the Games – the six-billion-dollar event is hugely over budget – and “filthy” conditions in the athletes’ village that threatened to turn the competition into a national humiliation.

The nation had hoped to showcase itself as a dynamic emerging superpower and deliver an event to rival the spectacular Beijing Olympics.

But the country’s old image of inefficient bureaucracy, poor infrastructure, graft and squalor was broadcast around the world by the international media and was tagged India’s “Shame Games” by local newspapers.

However, by yesterday, a last-minute sprint to clean up the village and prepare the venues appeared to be paying off.

“The venues are outstanding and we’re really looking forward to competing there,” Wales chef de mission Chris Jenkins told reporters.

Athletes said they now were focusing on doing their best at the Games.

“There are so many fantastic athletes here at these Commonwealth Games and being a part of that is such a big thrill,” said Australian netball captain Sharelle McMahon.

Foreign spectators will also be far fewer than the 100,000 organisers had hoped for with worries about an outbreak of dengue fever – a potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease – the chaotic preparations and fear of militant attacks deterring many.