At ground zero,journey to the chequered flag has just begun

No signboard suggests where ground zero is,but a few workers — sitting in the shade of a dumper — indicate that this is indeed the construction site. “The work has begun only a month back,” explains one. The work,so far,is three mounds of earth and a dusty road,with curves and bends like those on a racetrack.

Two years ago,IOA president Suresh Kalmadi,said the association had signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” with Formula One Administration,and armed with a letter of intent from F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone,had announced that India would host a Grand Prix in 2009. A month later,it was said the proposed race would happen in 2010 and,last year,Ecclestone put the date further back to 2011. “2011 is what I want,” Ecclestone had said at the 2008 Singapore GP,when asked about the Indian Grand Prix. “We will deliver,otherwise we wouldn’t have entered into an agreement,” he had added.

Not an easy task

The ground reality — in this case,literally — is that meeting this deadline will not be easy,although the Shanghai International Circuit was completed in just 18 months,using 3,000 engineers and many more workers putting in a round-the-clock effort to finish the project.

In India,JPSK Sports Pvt Ltd,formed by the Jaypee Group,bagged the contract for constructing the 5.5 km circuit in November,2007,but got the 1,000 hectares of agricultural land only this year. The village of Atta,from which most of the land was acquired,didn’t mind the delays. The postponements have meant a better deal for the villagers in terms of compensation. The villagers say they have got Rs 32 lakh per acre and have also been promised a 70-sq yard plot for every 1,000 sq yards in the adjacent residential township.

“I’ve been compensated. I’ll now buy cheaper agricultural land elsewhere,” says Inder Singh,whose three-acre plot has been acquired by the authority.

Will he come to watch the first race? “Definitely.”