Operators mull online ticketing after cold response to hot air balloon rides in Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): Looking at the lukewarm response to the recently launched hot air balloon rides in Delhi, the organisers are now planning to set up an online ticket booking system to boost sales.
Since its public opening almost a month ago on November 29, the tethered hot air balloon rides at the Baansera Park near Sarai Kale Khan have seen a sluggish response from Delhiites.
“Only those visiting the Baanseera Park are buying tickets. People are not coming especially for the rides. Since the launch, we have operated for 1-2 hours each Saturday and Sunday,” Mukesh Yadav, associate vice-president of Rajas Aerosports and Adventures, the company conducting the rides, told PTI.
“We plan to set up an online ticketing system soon to increase awareness and convenience for people wanting to take the rides,” he said.
Adding another recreational activity to the city's landscape, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) launched the hot air balloon rides for the public at the Baansera Park on November 29.
There was no response from the DDA to queries raised on the poor response.
The private organisers said that since the launch, the rides were conducted on only three weekends, from 4 pm to 6 pm.
“On each weekend, 20 tickets were sold on average,” Yadav said. To attract more customers, the organisers have also slashed the ticket price to Rs 2,300 per person from the Rs 3,000 planned initially.
“The rides are organised till the last light of the day, which is around 6 pm currently,” Yadav said.
A single trip ranges from 7 to 12 minutes, with each ride having a holding capacity of four people.
In July, the DDA finalised the private agency to conduct these activities at four locations – the Yamuna Sports Complex, the Commonwealth Games sports complexes, and two other sites along the Yamuna at Asita and Baansera.
However, the expansion plans, beyond Baansera, are on hold till the pilot is successful. The peak season for balloon rides in north India is from November to February, which offers ideal weather conditions.
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EC hands over probe into gherao of seven judicial officers in Bengal's Malda to NIA
Kolkata (PTI): The Election Commission of India on Thursday handed over the probe into the gherao of the seven judicial officers in West Bengal's Malda district to the NIA, following a Supreme Court directive.
Observing that West Bengal was the "most polarised state", the Supreme Court delivered a stinging indictment of the state administration after seven judicial officers engaged in SIR exercise were held hostage by protesters in Malda district and directed a CBI or NIA probe into the incident.
In an April 2 letter to the National Investigating Agency, the poll body referred to the apex court's order and directed it to probe the Wednesday incident.
Talking to PTI, a top official of the poll body said the NIA team would reach West Bengal on Friday.
Slamming the state administration for its "complete failure" and inaction over the "deplorable" gherao and attack on the officers during the Special Intensive Revision(SIR) of the voters list, the court also asked the EC to "requisition adequate Central Forces and deploy them at all places where judicial officers are adjudicating the objections".
West Bengal will have a two-phase poll -- on April 23 and 29.
The Supreme Court further said the incident was a "brazen attempt not only to browbeat the judicial officers" but also amounted to a challenge to the authority of this Supreme Court.
The top court gave the order after it took suo motu cognisance of a letter from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court detailing a harrowing night where the judicial officers, including three women and a five-year-old child, were held captive by a mob for over nine hours without food or water.
The incident occurred during the SIR exercise in the Kaliachowk area of Malda district, and as per the order, seven judicial officers were gheraoed by "anti-social elements" at a BDO office starting at 3:30 PM on Wednesday.
The officers were rescued by security forces around midnight on Wednesday after they were gheraoed over the alleged deletion of names from the electoral rolls, officials said.
