Qutub Minar gets new parking, booking counters and cafeteria

NEW DELHI: Visitors to Qutub Minar will soon be greeted with a number of new tourist facilities including a 10,000 square metres parking space, six new booking counters, four ticket vending machines, toilets, drinking water kiosks, a cafeteria and cloak room facilities.

The Qutub Minar, along with the Red Fort and the Humayun’s Tomb are the three Unesco world heritage sites in Delhi. While the Red Fort receives the highest tourist footfall in the city at 10,000 every day, the Qutub Minar follows closely with about 6,000-7,000 tourists visiting it daily. “We have been carrying out an integrated development programme at the Unesco world heritage sites in Delhi. First we illuminated the complex, then extended the timings. Now, we have built the new parking space and introduced more facilities,” said Gunjan Kumar Srivastava, superintending archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Delhi circle.

The new parking space has been built opposite the main gate of the Qutub Minar complex at the same spot where the older one existed. Apart from clearing out its surroundings, and extending the space, it has been concretised with red sandstone and street furniture, and plants.

The six new booking counters, located inside the parking space are embellished with ornate pillars and fence to complement the look of the medieval era monument. “One gets a very beautiful view of the Qutub Minar standing at the new parking lot. We have designed the booking counters in a way to match the heritage aesthetics of the Qutub complex,” said Srivastava.

Apart from a new cafeteria and cloakroom built at the parking space, four rain water harvesting units have also been installed there. Srivastava explained that the installation of the units was in keeping with the emphasis being placed by the government on water conservation. “Also, since we had concretised the entire area it was necessary to ensure that rain water is not wasted,” he added. In order to provide adequate information about the history of the monument built by the Sultanate rulers of Delhi, the ASI is also working to provide touch screen information kiosks.