Tickets had been sold to one lakh visitors by Sunday afternoon resulting in chaos because of which many people who had come from far off areas had to return home disappointed as they were denied entry by organisers
Tickets had been sold to one lakh visitors by Sunday afternoon resulting in chaos because of which many people who had come from far off areas had to return home disappointed as they were denied entry by organisers
The last day of India International Trade Fair (IITF) was disappointing for hundreds of people, who had to go home dejected as they were not allowed to enter the fair. They were turned away by the organisers as one lakh tickets, which was the crowd limit, were sold out by Sunday afternoon. 
Pleading doesn't help
People were seen pleading with the customer care executives at Pragati Maidan Metro Station to provide them with tickets to the fair. The demand for the venue tickets lead black marketers to sell them at Rs 150 per ticket, which is thrice the actual amount.
"We have come all the way from Gurgaon to see the fair, but sadly they are not selling tickets anymore. I am ready to pay Rs 100 extra for a ticket," Sumit Jain, who came with his family from Gurgaon. CRPF and Delhi police personnel had to be pressed into service to manage the surging crowd, by putting barricades before the ticket counters. "The cap for sale of tickets is one lakh and it is the same for all days. It was made known in very beginning that for public safety, the sale of the tickets will be stopped once the limit is reached," said DIG Vikram Sehgal, General Manager, Security, ITPO.
Always the same
People coming to the fair also alleged that the security personnel misbehaved with them while stopping them from entering the fair. The claim was refuted by ITPO.u00a0"They were not misbehaving. When the crowd is so big and everyone is in a hurry to enter, the police needs to control the crowd. Media persons with valid identity cards were not being stopped," Sehgal added.
Winners at IITF 2011
In the foreign category, South Africa won the gold medal among 26 participating countries, which included Pakistan, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Thailand among others. Kerala won the gold medal in the states' category, while Madhya Pradesh bagged silver. Chandigarh won in the union territories category, while Nagaland won the same in the north-east category. A total of 23 states and union territories participated in the 31st edition of the 14-day IITF at Pragati Maidan. "It has been a great show. Over 6,000 exhibitors participated in the huge event, which saw more than 1,00,000 visitors each day," said Rahul Khullar, commerce secretary.
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