The magnificent Taj Mahal is a tourist attraction all around the year. The historical significance and its charm drives thousands of tourists into the monument's arena. One has been allowed to revel in its majestic beauty until closing time, for as long as they wish. Sadly, this is not the case henceforth. The Archaeological Survey of India has levied an extra fee for those who wish to spend more than 3 hours here.
The footfall to one of the Seven Wonders of the World has been growing at an alarming rate. It is in the interest of saving the heritage from overcrowding that this step has been initiated. Since the monument has also been showing signs of deterioration, it will help in the preservation and maintenance of the heritage site.
It sure is a let down for the tourists who travel miles to visit the monument. From now on, the massive crowd of over 70,000 people per day will reduce to a maximum of 40,000 as the sale of tickets, both online and offline will stop right when it touches the 40k mark.
"Seven turnstile gates, at both the east and west entry, have been installed in its vicinity to prevent unauthorized entry", said Vasant Kumar Sawarankar, Superintendent of Archaeological Survey of India. Entry tokens will be given out to the visitors which stand valid for 3 hours, exceeding which the visitors have to get the tokens recharged at the exit gates.
The monument is set to open half an hour prior to sunrise and close down half an hour before sunset from now on. Tourists are heavily disappointed as they wish to spend longer hours at the heritage site.
Let us know about your views on the enforcement of this new rule in the comments below.
Taj Mahal Entry To Be Restricted. Find Out More
This post was published by Sony Punjabi