Tourists to shell out more to see Taj Mahal

Tourists visiting Taj Mahal will have to take a separate ticket worth Rs 200 per person for entry to the main mausoleum of the iconic monument in Agra from April this year.

For every tourist, there will also be a three-hour cap on visiting the Taj Mahal premises, other than the main mausoleum.

The tickets to be sold with bar codes will become automatically invalid after three hours.

From April, the price of the entry tickets for the domestic tourists will also become costlier by Rs 10. The price of entry tickets will be increased from the current Rs 40 to Rs 50.

The culture ministry has decided to introduce these measures to regulate "the visiting crowd" at the iconic Taj Mahal.

"The decision was taken in consultation with the local administration of Agra and other stakeholders. We will soon be notifying the new rates and other entry rules along with the date from which they become effective," Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma told reporters here on Tuesday.

The price of the entry tickets for foreign tourists will remain the same. It will continue to cost them Rs 1,250 per person.

Foreign tourists, however, also have to take a separate ticket worth RS 200 for entry to the main mausoleum at Taj Mahal.

"These measures will be introduced not to generate more revenue but to segregate the crowd inside the iconic monument. There is no other option to manage the crowd. Tourists, particularly those visiting Taj Mahal, from various countries, face lot of problems as the visitors queue is often too long. Sometime crowd also becomes unmanageable," the minister said.

The culture ministry plans to introduce "similar measures for segregation of visiting crowd" at the Red Fort in Delhi and other monuments in future, he added.

Besides, the Uttar Pradesh government is considering making touting a cognizable offence to put a curb on "lepka (touting) culture" in Agra.

"This is very necessary as sometimes guides and other persons harass foreign tourists. There have been complaints that they also molest women tourists. The Uttar Pradesh government has taken a very serious view of it and is considering to make 'lepka' a cognizable offence," the culture minister said.

The Supreme Court recently directed the Uttar Pradesh government to prepare a comprehensive plan for protection and preservation of Taj Mahal in the next four weeks as pollution continues to rob the the beauty and splendour of the majestic monument in Agra.

The apex court also sought an explanation from the state government as to why there was a sudden burst of activities in and around the Taj Mahal and the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ).

"We have about 20 acres of land along the Yamuna River. We will develop it into a green park for the tourists. We will also make arrangements for night viewing of Taj Mahal from a nearby Mehtab Bagh so that more tourist can enjoy it. At present, there is space for 400 people only at the location marked for night viewing of Taj Mahal," Sharma added.