Parking at museum raises several questions

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On Wednesday last, a holiday, Napier Museum officials collected a handsome amount,  Rs 18,880, as parking fees, but the top officials of the Museum Department feel that the permission to park vehicles should be scrapped as it poses a severe threat to the serenity of the Museum compound. Museum Director K Udayavarman said that heavy traffic on the Museum compound was creating disturbance to the regular visitors, most of them elders and women who prefer the spot for its calm and quiet environment. Keeping this in mind, the message was passed on to the security personnel that not more than 30 vehicles should be allowed to be parked on the compound at a time. The parking fee was jacked up from Rs 50 to Rs 100 in 2006 to deter the visitors from parking their vehicles on the compound, he said. He personally feels that the fee should be increased further to dissuade the parking on the premises.Chandra Babu, who issues the Museum  parking ticket at the West Gate, said that a maximum of 25-30 vehicles are allowed to be parked at a time. If there is enough space left after a vehicle vacates, then another one is allowed inside. Meanwhile, the visitors who are agitated over the excess parking fee allege that the exorbitant fee is being charged by the Museum officials to help the private party who is operating a parking bay leased from the Corporation on the nearby Kanaka Nagar road, where a nominal fee of  Rs 10 is charged for a four-wheeler.Satheesh D S, a car driver from Attingal, seemed infuriated at the high parking fee being charged.  “I have visited many destinations in the state and outside. But I haven’t seen a rip-off like this anywhere else. This would affect the tourism prospects of the city,” he warned.