Tourism Minister Stresses Need To Reopen More Monuments

After a shutdown of more than 100 days, all architectural monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) were opened, as announced by the Ministry of Culture. While only 820 monuments were allowed to be reopened from June 6, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel said that more heritage sites should be opened in consultation with the state governments and in accordance with Coronavirus precautions. "Around 800 monuments including Taj Mahal remain closed but we have to resume work soon," he said. On July 2, Prahlad Patel announced that all ASI-protected Indian monuments would be open to the public during the Unlock 2.0 phase. Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, over 3000 ASI monuments had been closed for visitors from March 17, 2020. However, 820 monuments were allowed to reopen on June 6. People will be allowed to visit the monuments only if they abide by the Covid-19 precautions and maintain social distancing. While all national monuments open up for the public, Agra's historical monuments like Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Akbar tomb and others will continue to remain closed until further orders. According to District Magistrate of Agra, Prabhu N Singh, these monuments fall in 'buffer zone' areas; hence, it will not be opened to the public despite being closed for three months. SOP & Guidelines According to the SOP issued by the Centre, only those monuments and museums which are in the non-containment zone will be allowed to open up. Along with this, the administration is also doing away with the physical sale of tickets, all tickets will be issued through e-mode only. Even the mode of payment in the parking lots, cafeterias would be accepted only digitally. There will also be a cap on the number of visitors in the monuments, along with strict compliance of social distancing, use of masks, hand hygiene, thermal scanning etc. All special sound and light shows will be suspended in the monuments and group photography will also remain suspended. Meanwhile, eatables inside the monuments will not be allowed and cafeterias would also be limited to serving only bottled water inside the premises.