Taj Mahal will remain closed for tourists, though other monuments get the nod

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to permit 820 protected monuments to open across India, but Taj Mahal in Agra isn’t one of them.

The Taj Mahal has been closed for tourists since March 17, the longest closure of the monument in its existence.

The list put out by ASI has only centrally protected monuments that have active places of worship. Although the Taj Mahal has a mosque where regular Namaz is conducted every Friday, the monument is closed on that day and hence will have no impact on tourism.

Rajiv Tiwari, President of the Federation of Travel Associations, said that opening the monuments at this time was not a good decision as it would lead to additional health hazards. The Federation said that if everything becomes normal, the industry will take a couple of years to recover.

Right now, there is a need for giving some much-needed push to this industry through relief packages as the tourism industry has a GDP contribution of 9.2% and provides employment to over 4 crore people, Federation members added.

However, the Agra administration has decided to keep religious places in the city closed despite permission from the state government to reopen from June 8. In a meeting with religious leaders, the district administration decided that reopening places of worship was an unnecessary risk at this time and the Covid-19 graph could witness a sharp rise in Agra if people were allowed to visit temples and mosques.