Joy rides give goosebumps to revellers at Sec 34 fair

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 20

Two sisters died after falling from a giant Ferris wheel when their seat overturned in Ambala on August 13. An eight-year-old girl died and six others were injured when a cabin detached from a Ferris wheel at a fair in Andhra Pradesh on May 28. 

It seems a similar incident may happen in Chandigarh too as the UT Administration and the organisers of a fair in Sector 34 have completely ignored safety measures for joy rides. 

Giant Ferris wheels here lack doors or safety grills. The dragon ride too seems to have archaic and ill-maintained seating arrangements.

Sharing his experience at the fair, Raminder Singh, a local student, said, “I was enjoying the dragon ride two days ago. When it was on a full swing, we were holding on to the grill. All of a sudden, our backrest came off. I was about to fall down. We hurriedly asked the operator to stop.”

“He did not stop immediately. I was later shocked to see that the backrest was tied with a rope. It shows there is no check on those operating these swings. They neither returned my money nor gave me the contact number of the person concerned,” he added.

Kalpana, a teacher, said, “I wanted my children to enjoy the ferries wheel, but when I saw the lack of safety arrangements, I dropped the idea. The authorities are playing with people’s lives. Are they waiting for a tragedy to happen and then order an inquiry?”

Suresh Kapila, organiser of the fair, claimed, “We have got a fitness certificate for all these machines and the Deputy Commissioner has approved it. We will ensure there is no safety lapse on the part of the operators.” 

Sachin Rana, who is holding the charge of the Deputy Commissioner in the city, was unavailable for comments on the issue.