LAHORE, Dec 7: District Nazim Mian Amer Mahmood has said that only the rides and merry-go-rounds conforming to international safety standards will be allowed to operate in the city.

Speaking at a meeting held at the Jinnah Hall here on Tuesday, the Nazim said the CDG would formulate safety standards to this effect. The standards would be enforced by the six town municipal administrations.

He said the operation of rides and merry-go-rounds in parks and joylands would remain suspended pending the formulation of safety standards and safety certification following inspection by the competent authority to be named by the CDG. Installation of mechanical rides in fairs would be banned permanently for ensuring the safety of the children.

The district Nazim constituted a committee, comprising Shalimar Town Municipal Officer Shafiq Chaudhry, Data Ganj Bakhsh TMO Chaudhry Amjad Hussain Dhillon, Cantt ASP Waseem Ahmed, District Officer (Workshop) Zafar Hayat Niazi, Funland Management Officer Malik Rasheed and Joyland Engineer Mr. Arshad, to formulate safety standards within a week.

He said the temporary ban on operation of mechanical rides and merry-go-rounds was not aimed at harassing the operators. The step was necessary for ensuring the safety of children.

The participants of the meeting proposed that the ground under the rides should not be brick-paved. One of the participants proposed provision of helmets to the children riding the merry-go-rounds.

The participants were of the view that the Parks and Horticulture Authority should desist from holding exhibitions at its parks as the same had been placed at its disposal for maintenance purpose only.

The meeting was attended by Data Ganj Bakhsh Town Nazim Tariq Sana Bajwa, Ravi Town Nazim Amer Munir, Aziz Bhatti Town Nazim Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf, EDO (Revenue) Ejaz Ahmed, EDO (Works) Arif Chaudhry, LDA Director Abdul Hameed and Cantt ASP Waseem Ahmed.