7 Stories that changed Mumbai in 2010

Prince Charles and CWG Organizing Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.

Colonial Olympics calamity

Organizers of October’s 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi needed eight years to plan for the quadrennial event. They got seven.

As such, missed deadlines, poor construction, security issues, execrable accommodations and corruption prompted some athletes to stay home -- a wise move if you were among the 20 percent of England’s swim team to fall ill after several heats in the facilities’ murky pools.

Matters came to a head when at a press conference, organizing committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi thanked Princess Diana for attending the opening ceremony.

The games were a high-profile blight on a nation that has otherwise made ambitious gains on the world stage.

The Taj Mahal's landmark heritage wing re-opened on August 15.

Old Taj wing takes flight

After nearly two years of rueful rehabilitation following its destruction at the hands and rifles of terrorists, the Taj Mahal Palace’s heritage wing triumphantly reopened on Independence Day.

The renovations required Rs 1.75 billion (US$37 million) and invaluable diligence to scrupulously recreate from old photographs the unique trappings of the oldest portion of the 107-year-old hotel.

A marble plaque memorializing the 32 people killed in the hotel during the three-day siege reads, “For now and forever you will inspire us.”

Lalit Modi at the IPL closing ceremony at D Y Patil stadium.

IPL rife with crickbats

In April, tax officials raided Indian Premier League offices as part of an investigation into money laundering that soon widened to include betting, match-fixing, tax evasion, conflicts of interest and political influence peddling.

IPL’s superstar founder, Lalit Modi, is blamed for runaway malfeasance in the league, which is alleged to have operated with Enron-like impunity.

The scandal threatened to not only jeopardize cricket’s image, but also prevailing notions of a “New India,” free from the corruption of its past.

By August 3, more than 540 in Mumbai had been diagnosed with malaria.

Malarial bombardment

As many cases of malaria were recorded in Mumbai through the first half of 2010 as in all of the previous year.

Inordinate rainfall and booming construction were blamed for creating breeding pools of stagnant water for mosquitoes carrying the disease.

The trend continued even as temperatures dropped, with at least one hospital reporting twice as many November cases as in 2009, and an untimely announcement by the World Health Organization that the disease is becoming resistant to one of the main drugs used to treat it.

Ashok Chavan with U.S. President Barack Obama, two days before Chavan resigned.

Chief Ministers play musical chairs

Just shy of two years since being tabbed chief minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan was forced to resign in November amid allegations of ... whatever.

Chavan, who took over from Vilasrao Deshmukh after his inept handling of the 26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai, was merely the latest in a cavalcade of chief ministers who’ve failed to complete the post’s five-year term. In fact, of the 22 CMs appointed since the state’s creation in 1960, only one -- V P Naik -- has done so.

Now taking the field: Prithviraj Chavan. Unless he’s been sacked already -- what time is it?

Damaged cargo ship MSC Chitra off the Mumbai coast.

MSC Chitra spill poisons coast

While the BP oil spill was despoiling the Gulf of Mexico, Mumbai harbor was enduring its own catastrophe.

After colliding with the M V Khalijia in August not five kilometers offshore, the MSC Chitra listed as much as 80 degrees, sending its cargo of fuel, diesel, lubricant oil and pesticide into the water for three days.

Blame was later assigned to the Khalijia, which entered the channel prematurely, possibly owing to the antiquity of Mumbai Port Trust’s vehicle monitoring system.

Spa, pools, movie theater, three-floor garden, ballroom ... shall we go on?

Mukesh moves in

In a city in which the population density can reach one million residents per square mile, one family of five now has 37,000 square meters to itself.

In October, Mukesh Ambani, on pace to become the world’s richest man in 2014, moved into Antilla, the world’s most expensive home.

The 27-story skyscraper is worth Rs 45 crore (US$1 billion) and requires a staff of 600, sparking debate about the appropriateness of such a home mere kilometers from Indians living without running water or electricity.