Taj Mahal, Agra Fort To Reopen On September 21. Cap On Number Of Tourists

The Taj Mahal and Agra Fort will be open for tourists from September 21, Agra district magistrate Prabhu N Singh announced on Twitter today. The city, hugely popular among tourists for its heritage sites, has registered 3,459 coronavirus cases so far with 83 fresh infections reported today.

All guidelines issued by the centre will have to be followed while visiting the mausoleum and the fort which includes social distancing and sanitising of hands, Vasant Kumar Swarnkar, superintending archaeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India (Agra circle) said in a statement to the media.

"Masks are mandatory to enter the monuments and all tickets must be purchased online. Ticket counters will not be open," Mr Swarnkar added.

Only 5,000 tourists will be allowed each day at the Taj Mahal -- 2,500 before 2pm and the rest after. At Agra Fort, 2,500 tourists will be allowed every day, he added.

The Taj Mahal has around 7 million visitors each year with a large number of foreign tourists.

The Agra Fort, another hugely popular destination has nearly 3 million visitors a year. The many monuments contribute massively to the revenue of Uttar Pradesh.

Both world heritage sites were closed since March 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The move comes as more relaxations kick in after the government announced Unlock4, even though coronavirus cases in the country are on a steep rise.

Agra has 650 active coronavirus cases with 110 deaths and around 2,700 recoveries. Uttar Pradesh is the fifth most-affected state in the country with over 2.65 lakh infections.

With 90,000-plus cases in the last 24 hours, India has surpassed Brazil and become second in the list of nations hit worst by coronavirus. The total number of cases has crossed 42 lakh and over 70,000 patients have died from the highly infectious disease.