Real killer: No expert agency to check park joyrides in Chennai

A new joyride fell apart during a trial run at an amusement park near Tambaram on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring 10 others.
Police, fire and rescue services and the local tahsildars or district administration officers have to inspect and issue fitness certificates for joyrides at theme parks. The trouble is, as good as they may be at their jobs, they completely lack the expertise for the job.
Joyrides are, in essence, very large machines with no end of moving metal parts designed to perform physics-defying feats of locomotion to thrill and terrify people, that can, if handled inappropriately or not not maintained well, turn into the equivalent of a very large truck moving at 100mph on a busy road without a driver.Reputed manufacturers of joyrides have experts in the safe handling and maintenance of these machines but the government does not. This, unfortunately, becomes an issue when an accident takes place kills someone.
With the number of such accidents increasing all the time -at least three people have died and 15 people been injured in five instances in Chennai since 2007 -one would have thought that someone, anyone, in government would have stood up and said, we have to do something about this. No one has.
Owners and operators of amusement parks have to obtain stability certificates from the public works department and the chief electrical inspectorate general but these agencies rarely carry out inspections. Authorities and officials have instead assiduously passed on the buck when it comes to responsibility for deaths in amusement parks.
S Vijayasekar, joint director Tamil Nadu fire and rescue services, admits that no agency regulates amusement parks but adds: “Every piece of equipment in a joyride has a different mechanism.The manufacturer has to look into the safety aspect and held responsible. The safety of these parks do not come under our purview.“
Thank you, but that's not of any help.
Consumer activist T Sadagopan says the corporation, local bodies and police should appoint experts to inspect equipment in theme parks for safety . “The corporation and local bodies should also be made accountable in accidents,“ he says. “Third party insurance is not available in such cases and the visitor is not only vulnerable to death or injury , but does not have recourse to damages.“
Kishkinta owner, manager held
A day after the death of a contract staff member in Kishkinta, the Kancheepuram Police arrested the park's owner and manager. Jose Punnoose, joint managing director of Navodaya Mass Entertainments Limited, which runs Kishkinta, and administration manager D Sakthivelan have failed to ensure safety of their staff, said police. Police booked them under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt by endangering life) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by endangering life).