Taj Mahal, different monuments to reopen from June 16

The Taj Mahal and different centrally protected monuments, which have been closed two months in the past within the wake of the second Covid-19 wave, will reopen on June 16, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) mentioned. Visitors will be capable to ebook entry tickets on-line and no offline reserving facility will probably be obtainable, an ASI official mentioned.
“Considering the prevailing situation, it has been decided that all the Centrally Protected Monuments/Sites and Museums (under ASI) shall be opened from 16.06.2021,” MoS for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel mentioned in an order.
With the second wave of Covid-19 making its presence felt, the federal government had ordered closure of all centrally protected monuments and museums, together with Taj Mahal, Red Fort and Ajanta Caves, on April 15.
An order to this impact was issued by the ASI and later tweeted by Union Culture Minister Prahlad Patel. “Due to the prevailing Covid situation, it has been decided to close all centrally protected monuments, sites and museums under the ASI with immediate effect and till May 15 or until further orders,” the ASI mentioned.
The monuments have been closed for greater than 100 days as a part of the nationwide lockdown final 12 months.
As many as 3,691 centrally protected monuments and archaeological websites maintained by the ASI have been closed for guests on March 17 final 12 months. They have been allowed to reopen from July 6, with the variety of guests being curtailed. Some “interior or vulnerable” elements of monuments remained out of bounds for guests. Additionally, guests have been imagined to share their cellphone numbers on the entrance of monuments for the needs of contact tracing, if required later.

Even as most different monuments have been thrown open, the Taj Mahal – India’s most visited monuments which sees as many as 70-80 lakh guests yearly – remained closed until late September because it got here underneath a “containment zone”, as per district authorities. Even because it reopened, the variety of guests was capped at 5,000 a day (in two slots), whereas that of different fashionable monuments was capped between 1,000 and 1,500.
Meanwhile, the Red Fort in Delhi continues to stay shut since January 19 within the wake of the chook flu instances reported contained in the premises, adopted by the January 26 violence by protestors, which triggered in depth harm to its entry factors and ticketing space.