I chose DLF over Disneyland dream, says KP Singh

KP SPEAK: Gurugram remains a developing city; urban planning needs a long-term vision, the PM must set up a high-powered panel for it

- VEENU SANDHU

It was to be a theme park like none other India had seen. It would be the country's very own Disneyland, with all kinds of rides and a sprawling ecological park. It would also have science parks, a water park with water skis, not to mention restaurants and luxury hotels. Envisioned on the Delhi-Haryana border not far from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, it was the brainchild of KP Singh (pictured), the man behind DLF, though the Haryana government would execute it.

"I had contacts with the Disney theme park people," says KP Singh, speaking to Business Standard on the sidelines of the launch of his book, Why the Heck Not (co-authored with Aparna Jain), in New Delhi on Thursday evening to coincide with his 95th birthday. The Haryana government, under Om Prakash Chautala, had even gone ahead and notified 28,000 acres of land under the Land Acquisition Act for this amusement park.

This was in the early 1990s. "Had the theme park become a reality, it would have, along with Gurugram, truly changed the face and fortunes of Haryana," says DLF's chairman emeritus. But that was not to be. Huge protests broke out. Haryana farmers took to the streets against the move to acquire their agricultural land. Many of them rode to Delhi on elephants and camels to protest. The proposed amusement park quickly became embroiled in political controversy. Later, the Bhajan Lal government scrapped it.