Notices issued on plea for removing Askari Park rides

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has issued notices to the provincial advocate general, the Askari Amusement Park’s management and others on a petition against commercial activities at the park in the old Sabzi Mandi area and seeking the removal of allegedly illegal rides.

In his petition filed on Friday, Mohammad Imran Shehzad claimed that the Askari Park’s management had started illegal commercial activities and installed substandard rides from China without fulfilling the codal formalities. He said the city administration failed to monitor such activities at the public park.

The petitioner’s counsel, Irfan Aziz, said the private company installed substandard rides at the public park without providing the necessary space of 300 metres of high-rise rides.

He said Askari Park is adjacent to University Road and one of the high-rise rides is installed near the thoroughfare. He expressed fear that if the ride were to collapse, it can cause several casualties on the main road.

He requested the court to direct the civic administration that no commercial activity be allowed at public parks and that illegal rides be removed from the park. He also requested the court to restrain the opening of the park until the removal of the rides from the public park.

After the preliminary hearing of the petition, the SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Abdul Rasool Memon issued notices to the Sindh advocate general, the Askari Amusement Park’s management and others, calling for their comments to be submitted on July 31.

The petition was filed in the wake of a 16-seater ride falling apart and killing a 14-year-old girl at the Askari Amusement Park in the old Sabzi Mandi area on July 15.

On July 17 Sindh’s caretaker government directed commissioners and deputy commissioners across the province to ensure that all mechanical rides at parks in their respective jurisdictions remain closed until they are inspected by a special technical committee to be formed in every district.

Referring to the Askari Park incident, which also injured over a dozen people, the notification states that the provincial government has already constituted a technical committee, and that all mechanical swings shall remain closed until their inspection by the said body, but the parks themselves will remain open. Chief Secretary Azam Suleman Khan wants similar technical committees, with customised composition and terms of reference, to be constituted in all districts.