Two people were injured after falling from a moving “mixer” ride at a fair in west Delhi’s Vikaspuri early Tuesday, prompting police to register an FIR and shut the ride while investigators examine whether its gate malfunctioned.
The incident took place at around 1.30 am at Dussehra Ground in Vikaspuri. The injured, identified by police as Gudiya and Ravi, both residents of Uttam Nagar, were taken to Mata Chanan Devi Hospital and later referred to RML Hospital. They were undergoing treatment, according to the report.
Preliminary police investigations suggested that the ride’s gate may have broken while it was in operation. A mobile crime team inspected the site, and the police registered a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The exact cause of the fall will be established through the investigation.
A police officer said the mixer ride was shut after the incident because of safety concerns. The closure is currently limited to the ride involved in the incident, and the report does not state whether the wider fair was suspended.
Fair organiser Sunil Jindal disputed the suggestion that the ride was malfunctioning. He claimed that the two riders had lost their balance and said all rides at the fair had undergone safety checks. The competing accounts will have to be examined against the physical inspection, witness statements and other evidence collected by the police.
The incident has also brought attention to the division of responsibility for temporary fairs held on public land. A Delhi Development Authority official said the DDA’s role was limited to permitting the booking and use of the ground, subject to prescribed terms and conditions. The society or NGO booking the ground is responsible for obtaining the required permissions and clearances, and for complying with the booking conditions, the official said.
The official added that permissions and clearances for conducting such events are processed by the respective authorities through the state government’s single-window mechanism. This means that permission to use the ground and permission to operate an event are separate elements of the administrative process, with responsibility distributed among different authorities and the event organiser.
The Vikaspuri case follows other recent incidents involving amusement rides in the Delhi-National Capital Region. In February, a ride crashed at a fair in Surajkund, Faridabad, killing a police inspector involved in rescue efforts and injuring 12 people, according to the report. Last year, a 24-year-old woman died after falling from a ride at an amusement park in Kapashera.
Those incidents, along with the Vikaspuri injuries, put renewed attention on how temporary amusement rides are inspected, who certifies their operation and how compliance is monitored after a fair begins. In the immediate case, police are continuing their investigation after the mobile crime team’s inspection, while the injured remain under medical care.
