Set up in 1984 with a rather large investment of $1 million, Appu Ghar was founded when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi invited Indian Origin Swedish National Gyan Brijeshwar to set up a world class amusement park. With imported rides from Australia, and top of the line technological innovation, it was a real crowd puller through much of the 80s and 90s before its modern and sleeker counterparts like Adventure Island and Fun ‘n’ Food Village started stealing the show.

“Twelve acres of land was allotted to us by the International Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) in 1983 and we were given to understand that the land was given to us on a permanent lease,” said B G Krishnan, the current CEO of the International Amusement Limited (IAL), under whose aegis Appu Ghar was set up.

A letter, dated February 6 1984, to IAL from the Trade Fair Authority of India, which later became the ITPO, reads “The Premises would be handed over to your (sic) on permanent lease basis subsequent to the renewal of lease deed of this authority.” However, since ITPO’s own lease with the Urban Development Ministry was never finalised, IAL did not get the proposed “permanent lease.”

While the matter of handing over the land currently occupied by Appu Ghar has been in discussion for a few months, the Supreme Court delivered the final blow in January this year when it directed the Urban Development Ministry to hand over the land to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and to the apex court.

With that order, a Delhi landmark will quietly beat retreat at 6.00 pm on Sunday evening and over 500 employees, some of who have been working in the amusement park for the last 10 years, will find themselves in the lurch. “It is an emotional issue for all our employees,” said Krishnan.

Appu Ghar was inaugurated by Rajiv Gandhi on November 19, 1984, and has for the last 23 years provided great entertainment to both young and old. Even when its popularity started waning, the management regularly organised trips for children from underprivileged sections of society. “We ensured that we lived up to our social obligations and we enjoyed doing that,” said Krishnan.