Height rules in these water parks!

MANGALORE: As a general rule, children below three years of age are allowed free entry into amusement parks, theatres and even government buses. But water parks in India are an exception, where height is the criteria. The first amusement-cum-water-park, under the name Manasa, at Pilikula Nisarga Dhama, also follows the ''height rule''.
As per the rule, children below three feet are allowed free entry and those between 3 and 4.6 feet are charged more than half the entry fee applicable for adults.Siddharth, manager, says they are following the guidelines laid by the Water Parks Association of India and did not know the rationale behind it. Ashwath from GRS Fantasy Park, Mysore, has a plausible explanation. "There is always a chance that parents would fib about the correct age of the children. Hence, the method".
He said as they cannot force the people to carry birth certificates of their children, they had taken recourse to the height rule. Enquiries with water parks like Polo Amusement Park, Oysters, Wet & Wild, all near Delhi, Suraj Water Park and Essel World near Mumbai,Water Kingdom, Nishiland and Neeladri Amusement Park, confirmed it. These parks had stipulated a height of 3.3 feet for children to be allowed free entry.
Dr Santosh Soans, paediatrician, says children are 38-40 inches tall at the age of three. The business interests may be prime reason for keeping the height at three feet, he felt. Siddharth says they do not take the height rule that seriously and relax it a bit, looking at the situation.
As for the Manasa Park, though it opened with much fanfare in January, some facilities are still found wanting in the change rooms. The floor, which does not have anti-skid tiles, is slippery. The change rooms do not have hooks or shelves to help a person change clothes. Siddharth said none had complained about it.
However, he would look into it. On keeping open after 6 pm on week days, he said they could not keep water slides open after dark as per a Supreme Court order. However, pools can be kept open till 8 pm. Manasa has completed the first phase of work. The second phase will include lazy river slide, wave pools and go-karting, while the third phase will incorporate giant wheel, Tora Tora and other amusements. Ravi Posavanike The pool and the slides at Manasa Water Park.