I would suggest we start building an Olympic park near Bangalore so we can bid for 2020 olympics. Of the BRIC countries only we havent won the bid to host an Olympics yet. The economy is booming and we can get some funding/private participation now.
Location: I would suggest somewhere between Tumkur & Chickballapur, north of Dodballapur. It has a good mixed terrain. Pockets of decent groundwater. Lakes for water sports. Good connectivity from Bangalore City as well as BIA. Between some potential but untapped satellitte towns.
Features: Around 200 acres, arenas for games, olympic village to hold around 20K people, Sports universities, Sports medicine, hospitals, ,malls, hotels & resturants etc.
Advantages: New magnet for development, new infrastructure to connect Bangalore with potential but untapped satellite towns, provides reason for upgrading of current neglected state highways, new commuter train lines can connect Tumkur, Doddballapur, Chickballapur with Bangalore city. Finally, increase in physical health and sporting culture of the people.
If we build this Olympic park in 5 years wit Indian designers and builders we will have the much needed jobs boost and we will have time to train atheletes to win some medals at home in 2020.
What say?
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Comments
Good idea
IDS,
I like your idea (leaving aside my post on peak oil). Starting now, this can be the project that will revolutionize Bangalore. It will have its unintended consequences though - we can leave them for now.
Location - I would not go so far off. The Olympic village should ideally be on the HSRL route to the new airport or maybe a few km beyond at most. This should still be a Bangalore Olympics or Asiad.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
Correct Organizational Weaknesses First
I hope we build infrastructure & manage to hold the commonwealth games satisfactorily in this country first !
reality check!!
what i want to know.
did our satellites detect the weather? could they have estimated the amount of rainfall, could they have estimated the extent of flooding. could they have sent a warning to govt.
did the govt have means of reaching across to people. how could the local adminstration manage migration. etc etc.
these types of investments are on the savings side. what does a olympic stadium get you? other than just showing off to the world? you says sports. for decades on end now cyclists from bijapur, both men and women, have been winning national level medals. to this day, bijapur has no velodrome. they want to build one in bangalore.
Velodrome and larger picture
for decades on end now cyclists from bijapur, both men and women, have been winning national level medals. to this day, bijapur has no velodrome. they want to build one in bangalore.
They shouldnt just build a velodrome near Bangalore they should get a university so these guys in Bijapur can also study close to the velodrome. There will be economic activities in the Bangalore region where they can work also until they turn professional.
There needs to be a critical mass with professionalism so sports can attract followers and sponsorship. Keeping it closer to economic hubs will bring in attendant attentention/money. MNC & local IT companies can sponsor events to get youth attention. Lot of people need to take part in sports to gain followers and there is a big IT crowd to utilize the facilities. If you play a game in school and college you tend to follow it, but you will stop following it if there is no popularity, you tend to go into TV mode after you start working. This needs to change. Our youth will be well rounded individuals if they take part in sporting events. Quality facilities are important not dust bowls. One such way is to have a big event to get the momentum going in terms of attitude. It needs to be followed by appropriate changes in the educational system as well.
Oh and the construction is going to test architects abilities, get some jobs & moolah flowing in.
PPP for facilities
All venues can be built with private participation and in return the venue will be named after them. Like IBM Velodrome, Cicso Stadium etc. If they are allowed to earn from allowing sporting activities only they will have a vested interest in promoting and bringing in crowds post olympics also. Even though they will be privately owned they need to enter into contracts with the state sports ministry or KOA etc on how they manage the facility and sign up for minimum comittments to promoting games. The current Kanteerava, Kmgla indoor and football stadiums should be included in the games infrastructure and similar contracts with private parties for upgrades and maintenance.
Even the olympics village can be built built and owned by private parties(not sell them). They should only be allowed to rent the apts. directly as service apts. or with strict short term contracts to ensure the apts can be freed up for sports events.
There is enough sponsorship flowing in now and too much of it is going into cricket.
The usual weaknesses will be an obstacle
I agree that the sponsorship route is the best way & too much attention to cricket & bollywood are the reasons why other sports & related infrastructure have been suffering. Actually, a lot of things suffer because of these two.
I'm doubtful about the ability of our system - if it can undertake such a massive exercise. Somewhere, there has to be a vision & a commitment that plays the watchdog role & steers through the various logistics & co-ordination exercises - this always seems to be missing & it wakes up only after repeated 'kick-starts'.
Proud Bangalorean, Prouder Indian :)
Well,
I do agree that India should be a serious contender for hosting 2020 Olympics. But, I just do NOT believe that Bangalore should go for it.
The decision of finalising a venue is four years away (though the process starts much sooner). Think of the major sporting events in the country in the next four years - The Commonwealth games, possibly the India F1 grand prix - both in Delhi. Of course, the cricket world cup will staged all over the sub-continent!!
Delhi has had the advantage of building a lot of city infrastructure, sporting infrastructure, the hospitality infrastructure and the experience of staging a large Olympic-like event. More importantly, its the seat of the nation's power. The central government is much more efficient than the any of the states, for a variety of reasons. And they can pull off such events much better than us. ( Anyway the 'they' and 'us' are all Indians)
Shouldnt we save a few billion dollars to the nation by staging this in Delhi, instead of re-creating the same kind/quality of infrastructure in Bangalore/Mumbai or any other place?
SY, Your lines have made me thinking.
Starting now, this can be the project that will revolutionize Bangalore. It will have its unintended consequences though - we can leave them for now.So what positives and negatives you see, other than the obvious push for city infrastructure (which is seen now in Delhi), if Bangalore stages the Asiad/Olympics?
-Srivatsava V
Olympics: means to an end
I just do NOT believe that Bangalore should go for it.
Every state needs to have sporting infrastructure of its own. If Bangalore can build one in the next 4 years it will be ready even before Delhi can get its act together. You will need a sporting infrastructure in Karnataka nevertheless, right now the CWG is being treated as a one off construction project more than anything else. I am talking about a whole different infrastructure including a change in lifestyle to include sports into the culture and way of life. Changes in systems more participation more sponsorship. This is what will win olympics and other events not the buildings themselves.
On second thoughts - Olympics
On second thoughts, I think this is not the best way to spend money. We need
a. Better local sports infrastructure - school level, college level at all taluk headquarters at least.
b. Promising athletes should be able to pursue a career in athletics without worrying about their stomachs or their children's future.
c. District headquarters should have good facilities to have taluk level games.
Once a,b and c are met we can have Olympics in Bangalore.
PPP - this usually means government funding either land, money, VGF and private parties building/BOT/BOOT.
I guess this idea stems from the boost Delhi is currently getting via the CW Games. Agree that Bangalore needs a boost (remember 1989 SAARC and all the roads getting a lovely coat of blacktop?). F1 is also a good option. Or maybe make the aviation show bigger.
We have to also think if Bangalore can absord so much investment. And if this again will simply bring more people to Bangalore than we want.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
F1/Aero & Physical activity
F1 is also a good option. Or maybe make the aviation show bigger.
F1 & Aviation will unarguably give a boost to the engineering sector. Let hope we will be able to build the next generation enhancements to the Force India car, it needs a competitive F1 track lots of F1 activity and an Auto component SEZ nearby to enable the same. The Aero India has already led to lots of offset work in the region for the aero industry.
But, nothing beats a major Olympic event to boost the sporting culture and cause overhaul of systems. The single event will definitely have a cascading effect so a demand gets created for taluk level infrastructure. Work on the mind first and provide the poor people a reason to take up sports as an alternate means to survival. This will happen when they see people putting in money into the game, so get the first infrastructure close to where this is to create momentum. Regions around suggested places in my orignal post would be a good start.
The first factor is to prove our ability to build sporting infrastructure to support growth of sports. Gone are the days where you could throw dust bowls at kids and have them struggle. It is not possible to scale without supporting infrastructure. Schools today lack proper grounds and facilities for children, grounds are usually just empty plot of land with sprinkling of parthenium at the edges and the mandatory basketball court.
What happened to utilizing the lakes like Hebbal & Nagavara to promote Kayaking, Canoeing etc. All we promote is eating popcorn and ride a boat sputtering toxic fumes.
So would you
Spend Rs.20000 crores on an Olympics City or would you use that money to build grassroots infrastructure? For a minute leave aside corruption, that cancer of our society.
If your theory is right, Delhi, NCR, Haryana, etc should be feeling the positive effects of the CW games. You really think that is happening?
A first goal would be to win 10gold, 20 silver and 30 bronze in the 2020 Olympics. Today's 10 and 12 year olds would be the ones to do that for us. For that a nationwide investment in sports has to happen NOW as we are about 100 years behind the US, Russia, Australia, China (I will have to name 150 countries at this rate!).
I agree that the first step is to build sporting infrastructure. But you know what, it is far easier to build an Olympic city than to build grassroots infrastructure and the latter is probably more important (and not just in enabling us to win gold medals).
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
Olympic lifestyle
Spend Rs.20000 crores on an Olympics City or would you use that money to build grassroots infrastructure?
I have made my case that I would first spend that on the Olympics City. The CWG doest have the sports university, sports hospital, traning schools, policies to support an economy and life around those facilities. It is a construction effort and it ends there. There is no plan for the day after that event ends.
If we built an olympic city beyond Dodballapur like a construction project and not have a sustenance plan, it will be a big flop show. The city should sustain itself with people from around converging on it as a education center, sports center of excellence. Corporates organizing internation games. Treat it like anSEZ for sports. More than 50% of people already live in cities. Leverage that to create the movement.
Excellent!
IDS,
Now we're talking. I like this idea a lot. So the actual Olympics is only a part of the project. So about 4000-5000 students can study and excel in sports here just like people go to the IITs to do engineering. And the facilities are used for Asiads, CWG, Olympics, National Games, State Games, whatever.
And just like the schools and colleges feed into IITs, NITs, etc, we develop grassroots facilities that will take children here. And because there is an end visible, I will not hesitate to let my child enter sports if I see that s/he has talent.
You really should write a proposal to Kapil Sibal on this! Not joking.
My small boy is one good monkey. He does cartwheels, somersaults, can climb up a door frame by pressing his hands and feet against them and working his way up. We have no clue of how to nurture this talent. If only you were HRD Minister 10 years back! :)
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
We dont care
You really should write a proposal to Kapil Sibal on this!
My first thought was the people in the sports ministry should know this. On second thoughts, why havent they done this then? I dont even know what the goals are for wanting to host games like this if it is not what we are discussing (ie to improve our sporting capabilities)? Why arent we learning year after year?
What is the job of a sports minister in the state when he comes into the office every day? I would like to know his job description. Are there roles for sports strategists in his department? What are the accomplishments for the sports department? Is it to make money by letting out Kanteerava stadium to exhibitions? Why cant they encourage schools to use the facilities when professional tournaments are not happening? Is there a calendar published with the booking status of Kanteerava stadium for the whole year? How many of them are sporting events? How many schools are using the facilities? Cancel their education license if they dont have bookings in any stadiums for the year.
I believe there is no demand or pressure from the people to get these facilities themselves and their children and creating awareness and building a demand is important.
No minister No dept.
Interestingly enough in Karnataka, there is no minister for sports. There isnt even a department for sports. Or am I missing something.
I hope that was a rhetorical question...
On second thoughts, why havent they done this then
My dear IDS, surely you know better than to ask that question. The same holds for pavements, bus stops, lane markings, chevron markings. Newton's first law holds for the government as well.
I am not sure about demand creating this. The IIMs were created when there was no real demand for management institutes. This has to be a case of supply creating demand.
There is a sports minister in our state. I know this because he bunked a function he was supposed to be the chief guest at!
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
I'll say this again
the first step is to build sporting infrastructure. But you know what, it is far easier to build an Olympic city than to build grassroots infrastructure and the latter is probably more important (and not just in enabling us to win gold medals).
Very true, & what I said on another thread is relevant here too --
"Issues exist because people decide & the politicians are scared of losing elections. Thus, they are unable to focus on the issues & are restrained from using their own judgement as leaders, as they should be doing. Also, I think knee-jerk reactions are what have been emerging when issues have reached critical proportions, not long-term or futuristic solutions, as we have been seeing. Thus, it has been a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth, repeatedly, like some chronic, incurable disease".
People in India care little for sports & despite some efforts by the government, no real interest has been created nor can there be a real push. People do not seem to want it - & politicians are forced to divert attention to where people's gaze is focussed.
So, though there are many great ideas, not many will see the light of day. The first step in our system is to get substantial numbers of people to take notice of success stories from elsewhere (outside the country), especially the poorer sections. Unless they show interest, the political leaders will not see much point in pursuing such initiatives since their careers & survival depend on these masses that vote.
Thus, we are in a society that is chained to the majority opinion, though such opinion may not be aligned with trends & practices prevalent in the rest of the world nor in the country's best interests.
How else does one explain the extremely poor, in fact, pathetic performance in sports events such as Olympics or Asian games, not to mention many other fields such as art or cinema ?
konkana sutti mylaara
if the objective is filip to cyclists. why not address it directly. why go about a round about way? why not have a tour de karnataka? why not an actual annual konkana sutti mylaara cycle tour that starts in bidar, goes around the bayalu and the konkana, and up the hills onto malnad and ends up in bayalu again, say perhaps on vijayadashami day?
the key being doing this on state highways/ state roads. do this every year. distribute centers and facilities. spread growth.
doing what KA can do. why not the school in Bijapur? why only Bangalore? make travelling between the two easy.
festivals
there is one MR Venkatesh, who has a very interesting take on festivals. he says they are a micro stimuli to the economy that is spread through out the year and is distributed in source. it caught my fancy bcoz i am a big believer of the idea that festivals and rituals, though mostly symbolic, are very important for sustenance of any idea.
for example, bcoz of dasara, mysore does see a lot of a maintenance and upkeep, even if there is always scope for imporvement. while other similar cities in the state, say for example hubli, similar size, similar economic capability, are barely able to get water flowing through their pipes.
point is: rational motivations like civic amenities/duties etc are not sufficient motivators to pay attention to, and keep the enthusiasm about maintenance etc going regularly and periodically. you need jingchak.
now, festivals need not be festivals per se. annual cycle tours are also festivals. every where they stop there can be a local mela or sante, concerts etc etc.
Who needs sports more?
People do not seem to want it
Sports is much a national need as it is an individuals need.
Like theater, sports dramatize our virtues and vices, They reflect our values and the state of society. Sport tells us much about dynamics of social change in society. It also forms a potent political force. See how cricket is used to shape relationships between the playing countries. Hence, more than the people, the state and political class should consider it a strategic lever to develop sports in society.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post, for an individual the benefits are many, sports whether professional or not, rounds the personality and provide more dimensions to the personality. Apart from health benefits they also develop instincts of strategy and competitiveness in people.
Lets go for the 2020 Olympics. Anybody want to help me draft a letter to the sports ministry? We could also start a project for RTI'ing Karnataka Govt to find out the usage pattern of sports facilities like Kanteerava stadium for sporting purposes.
Leveraging the cycle craze
The cyclothon seems to have attracted quite a crowd. We need to keep the momentum going. Hope we can get a Tour De Karnataka lined up in this winter.
Knock! Knock! sports department? KOA?
2020 Bengaluru
I second the opinions here to lobby for 2020 olympics in Bangalore. Its definitely not a waste of money or a show to the world. It creates a very healthy and sustainable infrastructure growth and definitely job opportunities.
Dont forget the example of Atlanta when it hosted the 1996 olympics they had to revamp most of their existing infrastructure - forget about just the infrastructure - economy boomed in that region and its the largest city in the south (USA) today - booming economy. Reduced crime rate (I mention this because before olympics it was rated to have the highest crime rate) - a clean up in the system and lots of direct and indirect investment. Because of this region all the surrounding cities and countys have been reaping the benefits.
I strongly feel Bangalore should bid for 2020 and like most of you guys here have expressed positive ideas - they can all be implemented to benefit the state in general and Bangalore and surrounding districts in particular.
Why should Delhi always host everything from Asian games to CWG or F1 - other cities should also compete to create infrastructure and take advantage from these big events.
Sponsor dont hoard
Just found another reason to have sporting events. Hoardings in Bangalore can be banned and the companies be asked to sponsor sporting events instead. They will get to advertise in the stadium/players and put their money on the event.
I almost forgot about BSA (TI cycles) until they came up with this cyclothon idea. If they did one event every quarter it will be more famous than having a picture on a hoarding in a corner of the city.
Asian games bid for 2019/2023..
Although 2020 olympics sounds great, i really dont think it is realistic. To be able to host the games huge funds are required which can only be provided by central government. Delhi, which is leaps and bounds ahead in sporting infrastructure, has the best chance and needing lesser investment will be supported by the central government.
However, i do agree with your idea and i see huge benefits in undertaking such an exercise.Our government work best under pressure(international) and deadlines.
We could probably start by planning for asian games. Delhi can go ahead with olympiad bid and we can try the asian games bid.
All this apart i think it is high time that we start investing in sport infrastructure.Since the national games last decade there has been nothing of note in bangalore
Moi Blog -> kelarappakeli.blogspot.com/
Quality Infrastructure
Build world class sporting infrastructure in an Olympic park/city, it can be used for any games, neighbourhood tournament, state, national, international, olympics anything. Shoot for the olympics and lay your claim. IOA shouldnt have a chance to refuse, I think we are capable of that. If you build today you will use it to produce sports persons of note. You want to build it JIT mode then you have to deal with convincing monitoring comittees and cheap politicking. What part of the CWG tamasha today is on the games themselves? Isnt it embarassing we cant build stadia and venues?
The point on usage being how you make the place self sustaining and alive so it doesnt die out. For example, The venues should get used and a sports university will help. Most of the rest of the comments was how to sustain the momentum. The village shouldnt get sold after the games like our national games complex in koramangala, thats why the proposal to keep them on builder ownership with short contracts to make them available on demand. Keep some as service apartments/hotels/hostels etc.
These are solutions, there has to be demand from the people to get some facilities. Not have children study in apartment blocks and see grounds only on TV.
District sports facilities
High-tech sports facilities coming up in Chitradurga district
Sweet... Now coming to the Olympic city near bangalore...
Hi Tech Sports facilities in chitradurga
I hope when they mean hi-tech its of international standard. When we got sports stadiums built for the national games in Bangalore long ago it was all sloppy - the indoor stadium or the dome next to kanteerava stadium has bad air ducts and seating and not even close to any university infrastructure elsewhere in the world (obviously I mean us and other places)
Atleast here after when we build new infrastructure we should not compromise on design and quality even if it pushes cost a little higher.. its just my opinion. Low cost sloppy work will fall off in no time.
LR Vaidyanathan Committee
PU dept not game enough for physical education
LR Vaidyanathan Committee was set up to reform physical education at schools and colleges. The curriculum’s objective was to give importance to physical fitness. Topics like health and fitness, nutrition and healthy living were included in the theory papers, while major sports including athletics, and other sports were included in the practicals. The minor games included yoga, trekking and adventure sports.
Is this too little too late? or better late than never?
NCC was a craze when I was in PU. I did a year of it. It was not compulsory but it was a peer pressure and cool thing to do. It has to be more a culture than a subject.
Here is a story from Apr 2007. And this might be an organization which may make a difference, If they can think out of the current box of 'subject-ivising' sports
I still think we can get our act together in time for 2020
how about cohosting with Delhi?
It may be a good idea to cohost the 2020 olympics along with Delhi. That way the infrastructure that has been developed for the commonwealth games in Delhi can be re-used for this purpose and whatever is lacking can be built in Bangalore. That way with the combined infrastructure of Delhi and Bangalore being put to use we have a better chance of India landing the 2020 Olympics.
But, my gut feeling is that the 2020 olympics may go to the African continent with South Africa being the likely host ...it is just my educated gut feeling, looking at how past few olympics have been distributed and how the 2016 Olympics went to South America (Rio)
Why share
Is it for cost purpose? If it is then see ad below. One company is willing to do this... If we got one per venue it would be a worthwhile venture.
Olympics is not an end for me it is only a means to a bigger end I have tried to articulate in this thread.
So if not 2020 then 2024 we have to keep trying like my BDA site attempts :)
Swalpa adjust maadi
Erratic Power, Lack Of Basic Facilities Show Junior Natls In Poor Light
Even the basic arrangements for players like a lounge area to rest after matches leaves a lot to be desired. A couple of pandals with a few plastic chairs outside the main stadium is all they have while they wait to play their matches, some of which may even go beyond 11 pm thanks to power cuts
Bearing me out
Showcasing lack of vision
Getting the infrastructure ready for the fortnight-long Games is important, no doubt, but has any thought been given to how these expensive assets will be utilized afterwards and how the CWG can be harnessed to move this city and country forward—herein lies the legacy of the Games
...
A search on the CWG website shows this throwaway in a sub-section titled legacy under City Plans: “And, of course, the Games will leave behind dramatically improved, world-class sports facilities that generations of Indian sportspersons can use in the future. The establishment of an Olympic-size pool as well as a gym in the Delhi University will boost sports among the youth of Delhi.” It overlooks the fact that only a section of the students in the National Capital Region study in Delhi University, leave alone the rest of the country.
...
Isn’t it time that we shed our chalta hai attitude and give some serious thought to how we plan for such big-ticket sporting events before we even contemplate pitching for them in the first place?
So we shouldnt pitch for 2020 and then start building. Then the end becomes the games. We should build an ecosystem and then 2020 will be just a cherry on the cake.
Finally the broader pic
Finally the realization on utilization is being discussed
India Economic Summit What happens to CWG facilities post event?
India has been late to start a legacy program and suggested that the country should swiftly consider the option of privatizing the infrastructure and letting professional agencies run the facilities. “If we don’t do it now, we are not walking the path of making ourselves a sporting nation,”
What is Karnataka waiting for? Get that place somewhere north of Bangalore identified. Atleast the villagers will get appreciation in property values.
Catch them young
Playgrounds in city fast disappearing
Play is important for children. However, instead of neighbourhood playgrounds, we now have parks with manicured lawns and paved walkways. The parks in the city are basically for adults; not children. Adults in these parks would not appreciate it if children ran around, making noise and having fun
This is where we kill the instinct. What good is plain grass if children are not playing on it? All parks should compulsorily have equipment for toddlers between the walkways and trees
Case study
India Open badminton in Bangalore?
BAI's joint secretary Punnaiah Choudary said Bangalore would be an ideal venue for an event of this stature
So people WANT Bangalore to host but ...
KBA Secretary NC Sudhir conceded the attractions of offering to host the India Open, but said the association had yet to meet on the issue. We will call a meeting of the development committee and consider the possibility.
Of course, apart from the fact that we are sitting on it, we can offer plastic chairs and shamiana only. We also dont know about the guys who were ranting in WEF about private sponsorship and lack of avenues other than cricket, because we dont follow our industry trends and dont have appropriate networks.
Most of the international action in India shifted to Hyderabad after the construction of the Gachibowli Stadium.
So it is proven that action follows quality infrastructure. But we would rather not believe it.
How humane is our city?
Many international coaches, athletes and delegates were appalled by the ‘chaos’ and ‘terrible lack of facilities for persons with disability’ at the event, and they made their displeasure known.
...trying to figure out a way to get her team to the ‘warm-up’ area, which has no ramp for wheelchair acces
...have been struggling to cram themselves and their wheelchairs into the small cars
...Then, someone asks where the toilets are, and there’s a collective shudder.
...When asked why basic facilities like ramps or restrooms for an event like IWAS weren’t given enough thought, Rattan Singh, President, Paralympic Committee of India, only replied, “I am full of tension now. Please speak to me later.”
Source
...“Either there are no ramps at all or they are too steep
...“Have you seen the swimming pool?” fumed an official from the Malaysian team. “It is completely unsuitable for special athletes. The level of water is too high,”
...“It is impossible for a disabled person to navigate through the roads of the City,”
...“The toilet is so small that physically challenged athletes cannot on their wheelchair enter inside,”
...Dirt stains on the bathroom walls, water-logged floors and cockroaches running about - the bathrooms
Source
Now we know what it means for a city to be friendly to people. Let alone to elderly, children & disabled. While the atheletes are still around let our administrators ask what exactly disabled friendly means and get some gyan.
This also speaks volumes about our abilities and capabilities in hosting sporting events. Leave the stadiums and hosting of events to sports organizations with the capability to do the same. A world class city is embarrassing itself with lack of knowledge & capability. How much more critisism do we need to get cracking? The generation in charge needs to travel a little more and see places or hire a couple of younger sports lads with relevant experience to run the show. They are cooped up around sampangiramnagar a little too much.
Sidewalk design guidellines
Simple addition of hand rails & raising the seat height can make toilets wheelchair friendly.
How can the Paralympic Committee of India not know what it takes to host an international event for disabled?
Humane? World Class? Bangalore?
"Now we know what it means for a city to be friendly to people". A world class city is embarrassing itself with lack of knowledge & capability. I'd like some of the stuff you've been smoking :).
Actually we don't. We don't have a bloody clue. We don't know how to plan and we don't know how to execute.
What was going on in the International Paralympic Committee's collective head? If they had walked around our streets they would have realized that we cannot even build a half decent sidewalk that is walkable for an able bodied citizen let alone for a disabled wheelchair bound person. And they expect us to hold these games.
They should immediately stop their participation and ask to go back. That might embarass our thick-skinned administrators a wee bit. They should recommend that India should never be allowed even to bid for the Olympics, Asiad, CWG, nothing. We don't deserve to hold them and they don't deserve us.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
More slaps
As sportswriters, members of my tribe are used to the seamy underbelly of Indian sports administration. We've seen poor infrastructure and shoddy organisation before, but the IWAS was like a slap in our face. I squirmed when the technical director of the Games referred to our cultural traits that allowed this to happen. "Come to Holland -- you will see what a show we will put up there," he said. It was an affront to whatever national pride I had - but there was nothing to say, because whatever he'd said was the truth. One official even mentioned that he'd seen better organisation in war-torn Rwanda when they'd had a volleyball seminar there for the disabled.
Source
End of misery
The 'closing ceremony' itself consisted of self-congratulatory speeches by PCI functionaries ... All this, of course, was amidst a general din, the stink of pigeon poop, and athletes ignoring the proceedings and amusing themselves. Things mercifully came to an end after dance shows by two groups. The damage to India's credibility as a sporting venue however has been incalculable.
Source
India dreams of hosting the Olympics
Bangalore University hockey team doesn't have shoes to play in Nationals
If in Bangalore - a city spoken of in the same breath as Boston and Buffalo - its University hockey team leaves for all-India championships without the most rudimentary of items, shoes, what does it say about the state of non-cricket sports in India?
There is a song by Alice Cooper
It begins with - "When does a dream become a nightmare?". I think he would find the answer here :).
I read somewhere yesterday that the Nehru stadium will miss its deadline. We saw what happened at the IWAS event in Bangalore.
Best we don't even talk about the Olympics. By 2020 I'm sure there will be plenty of currently under-developed countries which will do a better job.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
Event specific build
I read somewhere yesterday that the Nehru stadium will miss its deadline.
This is a direct result of planning backwards from an event and for the event. This is why Bangalore shouldnt wait for an event to build. We should figure out a plan for building venues, funding them with non event specific funds and keeping them alive with year round events. Does a cricket stadium get built just for a world cup?
And best is Govt not do this building themselves. It is not their core competence. Cmon sports dept where the Olympic village coming up? Chickballapur? Dodbllapur? Or how about between Manchanabele & TG Halli? Water sports may keep the reservoirs healthy.
brilliant thread!
I don't know how I missed it all this while - I am going to make up now. IDS - thanks for starting it.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post, for an individual the benefits are many, sports whether professional or not, rounds the personality and provide more dimensions to the personality. Apart from health benefits they also develop instincts of strategy and competitiveness in people - you all have a living example amidst you, right?:)))
sports vs education - the big question
Sportpersons start having doubts about their careers when they reach adolescence. They have to choose either sports or education as the education system doesn't allow sportspersons to pursue education - see this - happened to my son, who inspite of having been selected the most promising junior player at Badminton nationals ('98, if recall correctly), opted to pull out of Prakash Padukone Academy when going into 9th std
Privatisation - the answer
Sports Management firm Percept's Managing Director Shailendra Singh, who also took part in the panel discussion, said privatisation was the answer to all the problems plaguing the Games. "Privatise the Games. They know how to get the sponsors on board. They will get the resources. Invite some of us to help because people at the top have no clue. It's very important that the Games have a positive legacy," he said. Check this
How could you not expect me to say this, right? Jaypee Sports City kind of developments hold promise.
Professionls like Viren Rasquinha - also part of the answer
An elated Saina said she was looking forward to a fruitful relation, especially when former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha is the COO of OGQ - check this - as compared to the Kalmadi's and Gill's who seem to go on for ever.
@pravn1984
To be able to host the games huge funds are required which can only be provided by central government
Wrong!
CWG operating costs are USD141Million and the capital costs are USD 221Million. Revenues of USD 181 Mil are expected for the games from tkts, tv rights, merchandise etc which if you notice will cover the opex and provide a margin but will not cover capex which is filled through govt grants and others.
So if you built your venues intelligently with PPP help independent of the games and had a calendar on contract to use those appropriately you can actually run games on surplus without having to resort to grants.
Data Source
Drumroll....
If we needed more proof ... here it is
University of Gothenburg and the research team looked at data for all 1.2 million Swedish men born between 1950 and 1976 who enlisted for mandatory military service at the age of 18. In every measure of cognitive functioning they analyzed -- from verbal ability to logical performance to geometric perception to mechanical skills -- average test scores increased according to aerobic fitness.
...
"The results provide scientific support for educational policies to maintain or increase physical education in school curricula," Pedersen said. "Physical exercise should be an important instrument for public health initiatives to optimize cognitive performance, as well as disease prevention at the society level."
Sporting revolt
While the apparently selfish holdup by the Hockey players and defiant attention seeking stepping down threats by Abhinav Bindra might seem unsettling on the surface, it seems like an attempt by sportspersons to create a movement which might lead to better sports administration in the country. They have been administered like trade and labour unions for too long. Let us see if any long standing reforms can get started. Serious need for infrastructure exists.
Regardless of how messy the current issues may be, a nationwide debate is needed on these sports bodies. I hope the sports journalists start something up.
This could be a good place
Chitradurga emerges as preferred sporting venue
Why not build on the momentum and get the Olympic village here? Its only 3 hours from Bangalore and connectivity via NH4 is good.
awesome
friends m a final yr architecture student taken up bangalore olympics as my thesis project could u ppl help me in developin my project :)
help
i need ur sugeestions to do my thesis on olympics in bangalore m a final yr student of architecture from bangalore :)
Crowdsource the thesis
i need ur sugeestions to do my thesis on olympics in bangalore
You could post your questions as a comment and crowdsource your thesis. Or PM if you have anybody particular in mind.
thesis
mine is a design based thesis and most the facts wont be relevant like the money etc
i need the statistical base to start my design
m planning to place my site near the airport
sit in bangalore because
delhi already has host of stadiums and they are not fit for olympic level so its just commensence that it goes to any other place than that the climate like bangalore cant bfound anywhere in india the moderate types etc
i have only one semester to do this and out of that alredy one month is gone so i wont be planning the whole thing but a part of it where the central stadium ,the swim complex and somwe other stadiums come
hope to get some reviews and some important points from ppl like u who seem to have good knowledge about place and the topic :)
Make a start
Hi Bharat,
It is your project and your neck :). At the bare minimum you need to make a draft and circulate it. You will get feedback and inputs. But expecting the people here to do your project is unrealistic.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
Bharat
When you are writing a thesis please do concentrate on a holistic approach. Olympics is not only building a stadium or a few stadiums - a holistic approach and a 360 degree turnaround is required to make a city in particular - Bengaluru in your case and the state in general prepared for such an event.
If you are going to base your thesis on Olympics in Bengaluru - you should be touching all other infrastructural projects and how they will lead to a great olympic experience.
PS : Indian govt has already shot down the idea of bidding for 2020 citing reasons that we have to bring people out of poverty and importance of infrastructure and the related expenditure :)
@mr. santsub
thank u so much for ur input ill make sure i think on those lines and ya our govt has decided that we not taking part in the bidding as we cant offord for it but mine is a hypothetical approach to the topic :)
mr srivatsa
ya as soon as my brief is ready ill put it up over here and ya ill be doin the project my self just wanted some critics so that my project has better range and ideas :)
thank u all :)
Design based
For a design based thesis consider what are the salient features of a games village. The geography needs to support the various events that are in the Olympics. Water based, terrain based, track/field based. Its not necessary to be near the airport but have good connectivity both rail, road & air. It should offer a healthy environment to the athletes free from too much pollution and health hazrds with green cover etc. Living and livelihood facilities should be a part of the design features. The locations should be spaced out at the same time be reachable for audience & atheletes shuttling between the venues.
So dont prejudge the location before considering the requirements of the events else too much effort will be spent in creating man made geographic features like water bodies etc. Spend some time on Google maps to identify appropriate locations which can meet as much requirements as possible naturally. SO even though you may not explicitly calculate costs you may be implicitly saving a lot of effort & money expended making it a winning proposition worth using in reality. Your designs may also end up unique if it accomodates the surrounding geography like hills & valleys etc.
wow
dude m really greateful to u bout ur sugesstion on this i have spent time on it yet ill re consider and think to the next level now :)
bro 500 acres is a really huge area and getting it in and around the city is very hard so i went to the out skirts and towards airport for this reason initially i had thought of place around sai but it does not have any stadiums as such and the space is too small
next is the problem of traffic i thought if i get it around the city the functioning of the city will be largely affected due to the narrow roads of bangalore
it does not have a metro or a rail connection but what if a metro station is proped too it will help the cause and more over it connects the place to the city also better
i had done a design competetion for bial where concluded that our new airport could be the next centre of the city if that argument is supported then it only means we would be encouraging better and systematic developement around the airport if not today but by an another 10-15 yrs down the lane
and every one would agree wid me on how much is the need for being systematic in bangalore is :)
thank u so much for ur valuable time :)
Location, Location, Location
bro 500 acres is a really huge area and getting it in and around the city is very hard so i went to the out skirts
...our new airport could be the next centre of the city
so the real outskirts isnt near the airport is it? Trick is find a large enough water body and you will be half done on the location. Some suggestions are in the thread itself if you go through from the beginning.
The challenge will be to design such large facilities around water bodies that will not destroy the environment. This will force sustainability features into the design, like water treatment & reuse, solar powered stadiums. The boarding & lodging facilities need to be multilevelled to ensure smaller foot print. The buildings themselves shouldnt level out more land than absolutely necessary making it look like they are sprouting out from between the existing landscape. There should be towns nearby which will benefit from hosting this olympic park by having hospitals & shopping areas. Rail and road lines can be built if they dont exist, these are man made anyway. The location could be a 1 hour drive/train ride from the airport & Bangalore city since it will be self sustainable and will also allow for spectators to spend entire days there to view events. The distance will make people more sticky to spend more time at venues once they reach there and will also be free of pollution from the city traffic.
In fact a key design feature could be to make it 100% park & ride from BIA or the city terminus. Design a rail only connectivity with elevtric/cng shuttles internally.
Why Bangalore?
You are trying to define future Bangalore for your project by willing to consider airport to be the next center of the expanded city.
What are the key points of your thesis - on which you will be judged? Stats based reason for picking location? Justifying investments towards something that many consider wasteful? Design aspects of the Olympic area itself?
List the key points you want to impress the judges on, and then work backwards from there. May be, think de-congestion of Bangalore, along with energy.
Super power?
The quest for athletic success has become a matter of national pride in this increasingly confident and prosperous country, which has garnered only one individual gold medal in Olympic history
But, the following quote pretty much sums it up. One facility vs the nationwide emphasis China has built
India's premier Olympic training institute -- the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports in Patiala in Punjab state. But its gym is crumbling and its air conditioning rarely works, despite summer temperatures of 110 degrees or higher.
In contrast, China systematically grooms athletes in modern sports academies nationwide
Full report
Existing or New
Some nice cost workings done here for using the existing stadia in Bangalore. There is a school of thought against building non colocated infrastructure for games as any travel time will add to the mess. That being said there are advantages of utilizing what has already been built at least as training infrastructure.
Of course considering the kind of people we have today and their sporting acumen, I cant but imagine another CWG like fiasco in the making.
But it must be said, we are grossly underutilizing our existing sports infrastructure for constructing sporting events.
Private sports city
the fact is that many Indian executives would probably be happy to organise an event like the Commonwealth Games, just as they have been adventurous enough to extend their global reach to buy up firms like Jaguar or stakes in Hollywood
The Commonwealth Games need infusing with India’s Bangalore and Hyderabad IT spirit. Next time around, perhaps we should privatise the Games.
Source
I would recommend we let private parties build & run a sports city on the outskirts of Bangalore under a sporting association SPV with Govt as stakeholders. In return they will allow for national & international sporting events worth a specified amount of days per year to be held there at no charge to govt. This sporting calendar to be decided every year in conjunction with the govt. Rest of the time they can do what they want with the stadium as long as the event is a sporting one. Of course the SPV has to mandatorily invest in University & Hospitals & train based mass transit to the location from Bangalore.
The following is the minimum list of olympic events that the sports city should be able to host
The above list is just to ensure they dont build one cricket stadium and call it a sports city.
Breaking news - Stadium used for sports!
School Games to kick off today at Kanteerava Stadium
Hooray! Kanteerava stadium is being used for something other than Exhibitions finally! Maybe because the sports minister Goolihatti has left? Good luck kids, atleast now you dont have to run on mud pits. BBMP can block some roads for you if you need mud pits. Bangalore is the only place in the world where offroading & onroading mean the same things. BBMP doesnt have guts to tame BWSSB.
New stadium
BSY pitches for mega stadium in suburbs
Very good move, I would recommend this site lie close to a commuter rail line so people can use pubic transport from all corners of the city and neighbouring cities as well. So if we put this in the hills of chickballapur then even people from Anekal & Ramanagaram can reach the stadium in an hours time as much as people boarding from Kengeri or Yeswantpur or Byappanahalli. This is the only way you can avoid traffic. In fact if the turf club can also come up at the same site it can make for the first phase of a sports city. Make allocation for water body and also eatouts & five star hotel as well. No brainer for us, but are there brains in the govt or only money bag seekers?
Kids have tough time reaching
Kids have tough time reaching sports centres
Apparently some people are still concerned about their & their kids wellbeing enough to do something about it. Lets see if the realtors of Bangalore can do something from their side.
With treated water to be pumped into Bangalore lakes, a portion of the lakes should be used for water sports like rowing, kayaking etc. people will appreciate water only when they use it. Start with Hebbal & Nagavara lakes. The more they use it non-destructively the more people will campaign to keep it clean.
Beyond the finish line
Dont give up... there are benefits for your grand chidren atleast
PS: click "watch on youtube" in the videodon't bother for 2020
This thread was started way back in 2009 about Bangalore setting it's sights on a 2020 olympic bid. Let's not bother since that race has been narrowed down to Tokyo, Istanbul & Madrid. Thinking of 2024 and beyond? Well, i think the best use of resources is to see what pieces can be reused from the infrastructure built in Delhi for CommonWealth games and build the rest in Bangalore & Mumbai perhaps.
Anyways, isn't this an ideal candidate to be outsourced to another country :-) similar to how other countries outsource IT and manufacturing to India?
Dont skimp on sporting
Dont skimp on sporting infrastructure build them all in each & every state. Anyway, 2020 or 2050 the goals dont change
Asian Games in BLR
I suggest that the Asian Games in 2018 should be held in India’s IT capital. It may appear a long wait, but mind you, the preparations have to start right now. It’s one sure way of making the civic authorities wake up to the tremendous task ahead and work with vision and zeal to make the city what it should be for a big international event.
Source
We need winners
We are not cricket fans. We are cricket victory fans.
So we need winners. We need people with medals who will give our young people something to aspire to. And our parents a source of some relief when the kids come back with broken limbs and loose teeth and a C grade in biology. We need medals of all shapes and colours so that we can rise from this tendency to wallow in our misery and look up. And all the money and infrastructure in the world is nothing if nobody wants to win anything.
My point is, not a single person in the country will be worse off if you create those winners. Not one.
Read this very good article here
Kanteerava stadium misuse
...While issuing the notice, the bench observed that the state government must promote sports. “You give stadiums for exhibitions, which is more important to you than sports. You have seen how dismal our performances are.”
Source
Sports in Mysore
Absolutely Mr Ramdas we will be there from Bangalore every weekend... just do it. Also ask GoK to extend 4 (2 morning, 2 evening) of the commuter rail trains which will come to Mandya upto Mysore so we can come. :)
Speaking to DNA on the sidelines of the inauguration of the aqua sport event, Ramadas said the department of youth sports has been sensitised to take up creation of infrastructure in addition to what we already have and spread awareness about it in cities like Bangalore through department of tourism so that adventure-loving youth can take up these activities. The adventure sport activities should be not limited just to the Dasara period, he said.
Source
2020 in Tokyo
After 4 years of writing about the idea, I hear the 2020 olympics go to Tokyo while we can wait for another generation to think about sports & infrastructure
Source
..and the economy is tanking
..and the economy is tanking and India cannot participate in the Olympics....
time to target the 2024 olympics
Time to target the 2024 Olympics then :-).
Sorry state of so called
Sorry state of so called "developing" countries. But I am eager to know what so called "infrastructure" the Olympic needs afterall. May be I am too silly to ask this :( Can someone educate me?
- wgwwd : (w)e (g)et (w)hat (w)e (d)eserve...so look at yourself first
re: SORRY STATE OF SO CALLED
>Sorry state of so called "developing" countries. But I am eager to know what so called "infrastructure" >the Olympic needs afterall. May be I am too >silly to ask this :( Can >someone educate me?
Sports stadiums for athletic activities; hockey fields; football fields; swimming pools; water bodies (canal/river) for water racing activities; volley ball courts; basketball courts; indoor space with proper equipment for gymnastics. I am sure i have missed quite a few other sports related infrastructure that is needed. And, all of this infrastructure is obviously needed on a massive scale.
And of course; transportation infrastructure to handle the influx of people during the Olympics. With Delhi's new world class T3 & Delhi METRO in Delhi plus Bangalore's World Class Devanahalli airport along with the Bangalore Metro (of course very small compared to Delhi Metro); i don't see an issue with the transportation infrastructure
Most importantly POWER; this aspect needs to be fixed in almost all Indian cities. We can't have unreliable electicity during such a premium sporting event.
Accomodation should not be a problem with availability of quality accomodation from well known brands.