Amusement parks: The Rise and Fall of Appu Ghar

Friday, February 01, 2008 Amusement parks: The Rise and Fall of Appu Ghar India's oldest amusement park closes.

New Delhi's renowned amusement park, Appu Ghar, has closed this month after years of legal wrangling, bringing to a close 25 years of rides and thrills at the capital's and indeed India's oldest theme park. The killer was that the operators of the park did not own the land and the lease was up. Indian friends of mine are saddened as a national institution is no more, many of them having visited the park as children . Opened back in 1984, and the brainchild of Late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi , much loved Appu Ghar was spread over 15 acres and featured 22 rides, ranging from the obligatory roller coaster to dodgems, a giant wheel and a waterpark. With the Indian economy in overdrive and the growth in the attractions industry reflecting this economic boom, I am wondering what the story is behind the demise of Appu Ghar.. can anyone shed any light? This story of dramatic change in India's economic fortunes is of course laden with caveats (eg. pushing 80% of the population still get by on less than $2 a day) but is nonetheless remarkable, with the country's productivity tripling in the last 20 years, making it fourth in the world in terms of purchasing power. Appu was an elephant apparently...
Posted By Charles Read -- At 6:04 PM \| Comments (2) \| Trackbacks (0)
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Categories Amusements Parks, Attractions Business, India Tags Appu Ghar, new Delhi
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Raised in Nothern part of India, Appu Ghar was part of the folklore. Every kid longed to be in Appu Ghar. Even if you went to other amusement parks it was not the same thing. I did get to visit it once and though it was a let down - Appu Ghar has always been synonymous with Indian Amusement Park.

Indeed a sad day for Indian attractions industry. A death of a leviathan.

In fond remembrance.

Anshuman

Comment By Anshuman Dimri At 2/3/2008 6:21 PM

The Story behind the disaster (?) -

Indira Gandhi, back in the 80s came up with the idea of making a Disney Land liek amusement park in Delhi. The International Amusement Ltd. chairman agreed to make it, giving all the capital of 100 cr. at that time, provided the govt. gives the land. So Appu Ghar was made on 16 acres of land leased from the Indian Trade Promotion Organization. Now the lease has come to an end, and Appu Ghar has to shut down.
Now even the Delhi Metro eyes that plot.
Sigh.
_______

Comment By Juhi At 2/4/2008 9:34 AM