KOCHI: The death of a five-year-old boy while taking a joy ride along with his elder sister on a giant wheel near Chittar in Pathanamthitta district is yet another instance of the scant regard for human life in our society. The tragedy exemplifies all that is rotten in our public administration system marked by a complete lack of accountability on the part of the different state agencies entrusted with such a task. The district administration, the local police and the civic body refused to accept the responsibility for the incident with that sickening monologue that the monitoring of such events does not come under the purview of their jurisdiction.
The official responses collected from a cross section of the governmental agencies in connection with the mishap reveal that the state lacks a singular regulatory system for monitoring such events. The present system of granting permission is not based on any transparent monitoring system that could be verified in the case of any mishap Fire and Rescue director-general A. Hemachandran said that the law did not require carnival organisers to register with the Fire and Rescue department before setting up amusement rides like giant wheels, freefalls, and carousels at festival camp grounds across the state. Also, the department does not undertake any periodic checks in amusement parks like Wonderla or Happy Land. “That is not part of our mandate,” Mr. Hemachandran said.
He said Fire and Rescue personnel did possess the general engineering expertise to deal with the functioning of such dizziness-inducing rides. “But then, it requires only mechanical engineering skills that each local body can easily command,” he said. “In the case of adventure rides, because of the huge risks involved, the precautionary rigour is normally demonstrated by the ride organisers themselves. If rides function without danger, it is more the result of the intense self-discipline shown by ride organisers than any kind of administrative supervision. It is also why such incidents like in Chittar come as a big shock,” he added.
He explained the limited role played by the agency in the regulation of such events. The response of the local body officials is more bewildering. According to Mr T.P. Satheesan, secretary of Kozhikode Corporation, permission for temporary amusement parks having joy rides such as giant wheel is issued on a contract basis. “The selected person or company will have to submit a safety certificate. Without this, they will not be allowed to operate such entertainment machines,” he said. He also claimed that the safety of the equipment at the ongoing festival at the Beach Grounds has been verified before granting permission. “We will be keeping more vigil in the wake of the unfortunate incident that occurred in Pathanamthitta,” Mr. Satheesan said.
Mr Harikrishnan, secretary of grama panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram district, on the other hand says the local body has only a limited role in such matters. The role of the local self-government department on the conduct of such carnivals was limited to issuing licence to carnivals on receiving an application, he said. “It was for other agencies such as Fire and Rescue Services and the office of the chief electrical inspector to look into the safety aspects,” he said. The response of the officials concerned with different arms of the government clearly point to the absence of a coherent regulatory system for the conduct of such events. The death of the boy and the condition of his sister fighting for life in the intensive care unit of the Kottayam medical college are unlikely to bring any fresh initiative on the part of the official agencies to streamline the system so that such tragedies could be avoided in future.
Lack of safety features killed five-year-old Alan
The five-year-old boy, who died after falling from a giant wheel in a carnival held at Chittar, near here, on Thursday night has been identified as Alan, son of Saji and Bindu, Kulathungal, Chittar. His sister Priyanka, 15, who fell down along with him while trying to save him has been admitted to the Kottayam MCH with serious injuries. The giant wheel that stood at a height of about 20 feet was installed as part of the carnival named ‘Chittar Vasantholsavam Onappooram’ organised by Green Events, an event management company started last Sunday. It was held at the ‘Delta’ ground right under the nose of Chittar police and lacked safety precautions and permission by the authorities. The Human Rights Commission has registered a suo motu case on the incident.
The accident occurred around 8 p.m. while the boy’s father and mother were near the wheel watching the siblings enjoying their ride. Their another daughter, Nimmi, was in a nearby bucket of the wheel. The boy lost his grip as the wheel rotated in speed and fell on the floor after hitting his head against the crossbars of the wheel, according to eyewitnesses. Priyanka, who leaned forward to save him, also fell down and sustained injuries. Alan was a first standard student of Govt. LPS, Koothattukulam, and Priyanka, a tenth standard student of Chittar HSS.
“The organisers did not take permission from the departments concerned. They paid the entertainment tax to the panchayat but did not give any written application seeking permission. The giant wheel lacked proper safety features as per preliminary investigation. A report will be submitted to the district collector immediately,” Mr S. Sajeev, ADM, told DC. The local police stopped the carnival soon after the incident. The mechanical section of the PWD inspected the wheel and found that it lacked a safety belt and top cover. An 11 KV line that passed near the venue also posed a threat to the riders.
No system to ensure ISI standards
The current licensing procedures fail to check safety of electro-mechanical equipments like giant wheels temporarily set up during trade fairs and carnivals. The licensing procedure for such events is a legally nebulous territory, say persons familiar with the system. The licensing procedure involves getting the clearance from the local bodies of the concerned which in turn is based on the ‘No Objection Certificate’ issued by the Fire and Safety Department, Pollution Control Board and Health department and electrical inspectors. “The fire department officials are mainly concerned about whether their vehicles could reach the venue”, said a senior official of the technical team of Wonderla Amusement Park in Kochi.
There are guidelines for adhering to ISI standards to ensure safety of such structures but we lack any monitoring system to check whether the operators are adherning to the safety standards. In European countries adherence to the safety protocols are mandatory and any violations will have serious legal repercussions, he said. He said that in Wonderla the technical team has put in place system of protocols for regularly checking conditions of the equipments.
“We’ve a list of protocols to be done on daily, weekly and yearly basis to resolve issues like wear and tear. In equipment like the giant wheel, even factors like inclination and space between two cars also have much significance,” the official said. Apart from this we also conduct safety audit by authorized agencies every year, he added. The organizers of carnival or trade-fairs are not known for engaging in such stringent safety audits during the time of operations or at the time of buying the machines. Ideally, the machines should be approved by independent inspection agencies at the designing stage itself. Mostly operators setting up such facilities on a temporary basis will be using machines and equipments discarded by the established amusement parks and that also contributes to their propensity for mishaps.
