Taj Mahal and all centrally protected ASI monuments to reopen; check dates and entry rules
New Delhi/Agra, Jun 14: The Taj Mahal and all other centrally protected monuments, museums and sites, closed for around two months due to the Covid pandemic, will be reopened on June 16, an Archaeological Survey of India order issued on Monday said.
These include 3,693 monuments and 50 museums across India.
An ASI official said visitors will be able to book entry tickets online.
However, no offline booking facility will be available, the official added.
According to the ASI order, the opening of the monuments will be in strict compliance with the executive orders, if any, issued by the state, district or the disaster management authority.
"Today @MinOfCultureGoI has given @ASIGoI approval to duly open all the monuments of India from 16 June 2021. Tourists can visit the monuments following the Corona rules. Good luck to all," tweeted Union Culture and Tourism minister Prahlad Patel.
Appropriate guidelines and SOPs issued by Union and states governments, ministries and departments will be scrupulously followed while regulating the flow of visitors, the order said.
In an order on April 15, the ASI had shut these monuments till May 31.
Last year, all monuments and sites maintained by the ASI were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 17. They reopened in July with strict restrictions like mandatory wearing of masks, a cap on the number of visitors and social distancing.
The curbs were relaxed later in the year.
However, due to the surge in cases again this year, these monuments were closed for the public.
Superintending Archeologist, Agra Circle ASI, Dr Vasant Kumar Swarnkar said Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri and other centrally-protected monuments, sites and museums will be reopened from Wednesday.
"We will maintain social distancing among the visitors and sanitisation of the monuments premises will be done thrice in a day. The body temperature will be checked through a thermal thermometer. Besides, the shoes of the tourists would be properly sanitised," he told PTI.
"Tourists would not be allowed to touch any object inside the Taj Mahal and other monuments and sites. They have to follow social distancing norms while sitting as well," he added.
आज @MinOfCultureGoI ने @ASIGoI के सभी स्मारकों को 16 जून 2021 से विधिवत खोलने की स्वीकृति प्रदान की है ।पर्यटक कोरोना नियमों का पालन करते हुए स्मारकों का भ्रमण कर सकते हैं ।सभी को शुभकामनाएँ @PMOIndia @JPNadda @incredibleindia @tourismgoi @NMANEWDELHI @ngma_delhi @NMIHACM pic.twitter.com/zJYAXTfNE7
— Prahlad Singh Patel (@prahladspatel) June 14, 2021
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Misa Bharti calls PM Modi 'old', gets slammed by BJP, JD(U)
Patna, May 2: RJD president Lalu Prasad’s eldest daughter Misa Bharti on Thursday drew flak from the BJP-led NDA in Bihar for an uncharitable reference to the "old" age of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bharti, who is the RJD candidate from Patliputra, made the remarks while canvassing in the constituency where she attacked the NDA government at the Centre for bringing in the Agniveer scheme of recruitment in armed services.
In a video clip, purportedly of Wednesday, now viral on social media, the Rajya Sabha MP can be heard as saying: "What did this government do in 10 years? It brought in Agniveer. Young people fighting for the country will be retired at the age of 22. On the other hand, we have an old Prime Minister who at the age of 75 wants a third consecutive term".
Predictably, the BJP flew in rage and sought to remind the RJD leader that her father, too, was at a ripe age.
"PM Modi is much younger than Lalu Prasad. Misa Bharti should keep this in mind and think before heaping insults in this manner," said BJP national spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain.
JD(U) chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar, whose party is headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and is an NDA partner, asked, "Does Misa Bharti speak of her father in a similar tone?".
Referring to Bharti's rival in Pataliputra, the JD(U) leader added: "She will learn her lessons. The blessings of Ram are with Ram Kripal".
Ram Kripal Yadav, a former close aide of the RJD supremo, had joined the BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls in 2014 when he defeated Bharti and was rewarded with a berth in the Union council of ministers.
Five years later, Bharti suffered defeat at the hands of her father's disgruntled close aide for a second time.
Covering areas of rural Patna, Patliputra, where voting is scheduled in the final phase, is set to witness yet another straight contest between Bharti and Yadav.
