Soon visitors will have to shell out money to get entry into the Shilpgram, the city's first arts and crafts village located in Poonam Nagar, Jogeshwari East. The entry charge will be as low as Rs 5 for children, however, adults will have to pay more. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) administration will soon table a proposal to collect a charge for entry into the park also known as Matoshree Meenatai Thackeray Shilpgram before the standing committee to get approval. Except on Wednesdays, the park is open between 6am to 10am in the morning and 4pm to 8pm in the evening. As per the proposal, there will be no entry charge for children upto 3 years. However, children between 3 years and 12 years will have to pay Rs 5 to get access to the park. Individuals above 12 years of age will be charged Rs 25. But, like Byculla Zoo, here also a family with maximum two children between 3 years and 12 years can get entry at just Rs 25. Entry for civic school students will remain free. However, this proposed charge is subject to approval from the standing committee. Kishore Kshirsagar, deputy municipal commissioner of Garden department said that the proposal needs to get approval from the standing committee. The proposal is likely to be tabled before the committee in coming week. The park, which was made at a cost of Rs 25 crore, was thrown open to the public on October 14 last year and over 1,000 people had visited the park on its inaugural day. In consecutive weekends, it drew massive crowds. According to officials, more than 25,000 people visited Shilpgram on first Sunday after the park was opened. At present, the park is receiving around 3,000 visitors per day. Shilpgram is a craft village, which resembles the theme of 'Bara Balutedar' that were an integral part of rural life in Maharashtra. The park has become a tourist attraction with its murals, musical fountains and fancy gardens.

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