INDIA'S preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games leave much to be desired.

In fact earlier this month even the officials in India in charge of the Commonwealth Games issued an urgent warning saying the country could miss out on hosting the 2010 Games after a dispute over the construction of the Athletes' Village.

Bermuda Olympic Association president John Hoskins just returned to the island from the Gambia where he, along with the sporting leaders of 71 countries, gathered for the three-day Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly.

Hoskins said that there were worries about the progress or lack of progress ¿ India was making to prepare for the Games in just under two years' time.

Hoskins is also a regional vice president of the Commonwealth Games Federation and is privy to the many meetings that take place.

He told the Mid-Ocean News this week: "At the General Assembly meeting there was a lot of open discussion especially about what happened the the Commonwealth Youth Games which were just held in Pune (India). There were serious deficiencies in the Athletes Village ¿ a lot of people had grave concerns over whether New Delhi could do a proper job in 2010. The Indians presented various papers and information to the meeting and I think most people are now comfortable that most of the major objectives will be achieved. But there will be some problems in 2010.

"The main problem with the Commonwealth Youth Games was that the Village was not ready on time ¿ it was unfinished and there were other things that were not finished as well. There were quite a lot of problems but the Indians are saying that the Athletes Village in New Delhi will be delivered six months before the Games. And they have promised that the major problems that happened in Pune will not happen."

The Commonwealth Youth Games were staged last month and had nine sports on the programme ¿ athletics, badminton, boxing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.

Hoskins said that there were also apprehensions about transport. "Some people are not too comfortable with the transport (plans) with since Delhi is such a big city with a very big population ¿ so there are concerned about a number of areas. Personally I think the Village will be in good shape (for 2010).

Critics of the 2010 Games say that improvements to infrastructure in the city are moving at an excruciatingly slow pace. They argue that construction work on several stadiums due to be used in the Games has been seriously delayed.

Games organisers plan to build the Athletes' Village next to the River Yamuna. But the site actually covers part of the bed of the river and there are fears that construction on it will threaten flows of groundwater and the ecology of the waterway.

Environmentalists say that they are determined to protect the Yamuna and have filed a case that is grinding slowly through the courts. The chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Austin Sealey, who has inspected the site, urged the organising committee to sort out the row urgently.

He told reporters recently that any change in the venue of the Games Village for 8,500 athletes would "seriously jeopardise" India's prospects of hosting the Games.

Sealey also expressed concern at the delay in the construction of a velodrome for cycling events. He asked the organisers to build a temporary velodrome if necessary.

The next inspection of the Games site is due in March.

Hoskins said that the way the Indians administer things "causes problems".

And it was not just the environmental concerns but "there are some people who were living there (at the Athletes Village site) who had to be displaced. But it had to be done with compulsory purchase orders".

New Delhi is home to 14 million people and this will be the first time India has hosted the Commonwealth Games and only the second time the event has been held in Asia ¿ Kuala Lumpur staged the Games in 1998.

The dates for the Games are October 3-14.

The Delhi Games Village is to be constructed as a low-rise medium development on a 40-acre site in the heart of the capital with a possible capacity for 8,500 athletes and officials. Existing and new stadia will be used to house the various sports which include archery, aquatics, athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, rugby 7s, shooting, squash, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.

New Delhi won the right to host the 2010 Games by defeating the Canadian city of Hamilton by 46 votes to 22 at the CGF General Assembly held in Montego Bay in November 2003.