What was that name?

In a story about a sports fiasco in India, Commonwealth Games chief rushing to New Delhi, we read:

On Tuesday, a 90-meter (yard) pedestrian bridge collapsed at the main stadium, injuring 27 construction workers, five critically. On Wednesday, part of a drop ceiling at the weightlifting venue collapsed, officials said. ...

Referring to the collapsed pedestrian bridge, New Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit told reporters: "The accident is not as big as being made out to be." Dikshit is the equivalent of the city's mayor.

This was an attempt to put a good face on things:

Public works minister Raj Kumar Chauhan told reporters the bridge, linking the stadium's parking lot to the venue, was meant exclusively for athletes and officials, underlying the lack of attention to facilities tom-tommed as world-class. But later in the day, as fears over safety grew, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, while visiting the injured at AIIMS, tried to play it down insensitively by saying the overbridge was meant for ordinary spectators.

Not as big a deal if a bridge meant for "ordinary spectators" collapses.

And:

A day after the visiting Commonwealth delegates objected to "unliveable conditions in the Games village, some of the smaller teams are now considering withdrawing. ...

Among the evidence apparently submitted by the Scottish delegation is a photograph of a dog defecating on a bed in the games village.

Visuals always have a big impact.


posted by Quiddity at 9/22/2010 03:53:00 AM