By Azera Rahman and Mayank Aggarwal
New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) The Delhi Metro zipped across the border to Uttar Pradesh, in a first. A snazzier airport terminal, overarching flyovers, dug-up roads in every nook and cranny - if a city could be in transit, this was it.

The city didn’t pause to catch its breath as it tried to break, build and beautify ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Ten facets of the changing face of the Indian capital in 2009:

1. Delhi Metro: Ferrying a billion passengers since it became functional seven years ago, the Metro touched new heights. Fast becoming the capital’s lifeline, for the first time it crossed the border to enter Noida in Uttar Pradesh Nov 13.

The year also saw accidents on Metro construction sites, with the worst being in the Zamrudpur area of south Delhi in July when an under construction rail track collapsed, killing six workers and injuring 15.

The Metro fare was hiked by 36 percent this year.

2. Airport: The all-new jazzed up domestic terminal 1D of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport became operational in April. Built at a cost Rs.500 crore, it has 72 check-in counters, 14 security channels and four-level in-line baggage handling system.

The new terminal boasts of eateries, book shops and even a spa offering neck and back massages, pedicures and manicures!

3. Delhi becomes greener: The 2009 report of the Forest Survey of India (FSI) says there has been a 16.58 sq km increase in Delhi’s green cover.

The Delhi government in an effort to keep up the “green” trend, especially with the Commonwealth Games closing in, has launched a plantation drive in which more than 1.5 million tree saplings will be planted.

4. More hotel rooms: Gearing up for the Commonwealth Games next year, the Delhi tourism ministry identified 1,100 rooms in the city under the bed and breakfast scheme. The target though is 3,000 rooms.

In addition, there have been initiatives to revamp budget hotels in the Pahargunj and Karol Bagh areas of Delhi.

5. Revamp of monuments: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) identified 46 monuments in Delhi as part of its revamping project ahead of the Games. Conservationists are working on not just proper lighting but also giving them a facelift using traditional material like jaggery, lime and gum.

The Safdarjung Tomb, Delhi Gate and Kashmere Gate are some of the structures where work is under way.

6. Beautification: With a campaign against littering, spitting and public urination, Delhi went on a cleanliness drive this year. Signages, especially around Games venues, also came up.

About 100 km of Delhi was lit up with street lights that were in sync with international standards. These lights covered 51 roads across the city, especially around the Commonwealth Games venues.

7. Low floor buses: Delhi saw 300 compressed natural gas (CNG)-run low floor buses being introduced. According to officials, another 100 will be added to the fleet in two weeks. This will bring the total number of such buses to 1,000.

Aiming to become the world’s first city with the highest number of CNG-run low floor buses, Delhi is looking at commissioning 3,500 low floor buses by March 2010.

8. Stadiums: Keeping the 2010 Commonwealth Games in mind, some of the stadiums undergoing major renovation are the Jawaharlal Nehru sports stadium, Indira Gandhi stadium, Yamuna sports complex, the Siri Fort sports complex, the National Stadium, Talkatora garden stadium and Thyagaraj stadium.

Twenty-six new training venues are being constructed for the Games. This apart, 16 training venues are being upgraded.

9. Flyovers: Keeping in mind the evergrowing traffic, several flyovers sprung up this year and more will be completed before the Games.

The Munirka flyover, aimed at making the route from Nehru Place to the airport in south Delhi congestion-free, was the latest to be inaugurated Dec 17.

10. Roads: In a unique initiative, 103 km of roads in Delhi were made using recycled waste technology. These are waterproof and have a life of five to seven years.

But on the flip side, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) received flak for the poor quality of roads that were not able to withstand the monsoons.

(Azera Rahman & Mayank Aggarwal can be contacted at azera.p@ians.in & mayank.a@ians.in)