11 months on, CSMVS to reopen on Tuesday
MUMBAI: One-way pedestrian routes and lowered ticket prices will mark the reopening of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) on Tuesday, February 16.
After an 11-month closure necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown, there will be a phased reopening, starting with four of the museum’s 18 galleries. Natural history, Indian artefacts and the money and jewellery gallery, along with the children’s museum, will be open to the visitors for a price of ₹50 for one adult and ₹20 per child, down from ₹100 and ₹30, respectively.
The museum will be open all days of the week from 10am to 3pm at first, complementing the restricted local train timings.
“We have studied and learnt from the reopening process of the Nehru Science Centre and other museums to better ensure the safety of our visitors and our staff members,” said Joyoti Roy, head of marketing and strategy at the museum.
Trends in other Indian museums show that about 100 to 150 visitors can be expected daily, for institutes such as CSMVS which received 5,000 to 8,000 visitors a day in normal times. “We will ensure that there is a limited number of people inside the building at any given time.
Other visitors will wait for their turn on the lawns,” Roy said. The one-way pedestrian routes inside the building will ensure that visitors do not come to face to face and can maintain social distance more easily. Temperature checks and masks will be compulsory. Sanitisers are in place across the museum and toilets will be cleaned several times a day, Roy added. “CSMVS is a museum by the people, for the people. We are following all standard norms laid down by the government and ICOM [International Council of Museums]. Our staff have been sensitised towards this new normal too,” said Sabyasachi Mukherjee, director-general, CSMVS.
Meanwhile, this rare interlude is being used to restore parts of the iconic heritage building which incidentally first opened its doors 99 years ago, on January 10, 1922.