The museum complex at Pantheon Road in Egmore sprawls across 16.2 acres, a surface area that can prove challenging even to legs, nimble and fresh from Nature’s stables. The legs bent with age and arthritis would surely buckle under the strain sooner than later; so would the legs that have to walk around, young children in arms.

A senior museum official points out that based on visitors’ feedback, the free buggy service was launched six months ago. While it was an instant hit, the full measure of its benefit was made manifest during the extreme heat spikes this summer.

He notes that effusive praise has been forthcoming from senior citizens and women with little children to carry around.

Two battery-operated buggies have been pressed into service, and they are on rounds through the hours of the day the museum is open.

When not already into their rounds ferrying visitors, the buggies would linger around the ticket counter for anyone to hop on. The buggies would take a pre-designed route that touches select points that visitors are likely to visit and from there, likely to head elsewhere.

The official notes that both the buggies put together, the initial cost was ₹12 lakh. Easy to operate, the buggies are driven by the security personnel on the campus.