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New Delhi: For all those who grew up with at least one visit to Appu Ghar, or Appu's house, an amusement park, during their summer vacations and then came back with their kids for another one, it will be the last ride through memory lane on Sunday.
India's first amusement park in the heart of capital New Delhi will close down to make way for a metro rail station and expansion of the Supreme Court.
"They shouldn't close down Appu Ghar!" cried eight-year-old Shalini Mehra, holding a pink candyfloss stick outside the amusement park even as the adorable orange-coloured jumbo, the mascot of the 1982 Asian Games, rotated slowly at the entrance.
"I come here so often. My cousins, who live in Jaipur and visit us every summer, also look forward to the rides here and then a dip at Oysters [the water park adjoining Appu Ghar]... now where will we go? Will they build another Appu Ghar here?" she asked her father.
Charm and history
Shalini's concern was echoed by hundreds of other children and grown-ups who are simply heartbroken at the thought that Appu Ghar is running its last few rides before shutting down forever tomorrow.
"I can't believe they are closing down Appu Ghar," said Ashwin Kumar, an engineer. "First it was the Chanakya cinema and now Appu Ghar. These are the places we associate our childhood, our youth with. We have grown up in these places... they are a part of Delhi's charm, its history," 30-year-old Kumar said.
However, Masifa, another eight-year-old, was too busy to be saddened. She had come all the way from Kashmir to New Delhi for the first time and couldn't wait to hop in for all the rides at Appu Ghar.
"We have come here earlier too, but for Masifa and my son it's the first time," said Quratulain, her mother. "Good that we came today. We didn't know that it would close down on Sunday... that's such a pity! In Pehalgaon in Kashmir, there is an amusement park, but Appu Ghar is special and different. That's why a visit here was a must when we were planning our trip to Delhi," she said.
Demolition
Opened in 1984, Appu Ghar was the first amusement park in India, It is now making way for a wing of the Supreme Court that will house a library, lawyers' chambers and offices. A part of it will be used by the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation to build a metro station.
"It's been 24 years since I have been working here. Indira Gandhi wanted this park to be built and that's how it was born in 1984. At that time we used to charge Rs10 [Dh1] per ride. From those days to today, when the ticket is Rs220 for children, we have come a long way," Harish Singh at the ticket counter.
"We are devastated by the Supreme Court's judgment to close it down," he said. Ram Kumar, one of the guards at the entrance gates, said: "There are about 300 employees. But nearly 1,000 people will be affected because the vendors here are dependent on Appu Ghar for their livelihood. What will we all do?"
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