You might have to wait a little longer to revisit your favourite monuments including the Taj Mahal, as authorities in Agra have delayed reopening plans amid rising Coronavirus cases. By Amitha Ameen
Agra’s Taj Mahal to stay closed for public, even as monuments under Archaeological Survey of India are set to open from today. The decision has been taken in wake of the #COVID19 situation as the monument comes under ‘buffer zone’ areas, as per Prabhu N Singh, District Magistrate pic.twitter.com/2JFGbNEUq8
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 6, 2020
After a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in the region, the tourism ministry along with the local authorities in Agra have decided to delay the reopening of ASI monuments including the Taj Mahal (as reported by ANI).
Earlier, most of the monuments that are located in the non-containment zones were expected to reopen on Monday (July 6), after being shut for more than three months during the ongoing pandemic. But this decision was soon recalled after 55 new cases were recorded in the 71 containment zones in the region recently.
“The decision has been taken in wake of the COVID-19 situation as the monument comes under ‘buffer zone’ areas,” said Prabhu N Singh, the District Magistrate while addressing the media (as reported by Scroll.in).
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Along with the Taj, the other monuments in Agra that will now face a delay in reopening and remain closed until further notice are — Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Fort, Sikandra, and Itmad-Ud-Daulah. Authorities are yet to announce a new date for the reopening of these popular tourist monument sites.
The region currently has 1,225 confirmed cases (as on July 6, 2020). The state of Uttar Pradesh has 26,554 cases in totality as on July 6, 2020. India on Sunday reported a record number of cases with 24,000 cases detected in 24 hours, bringing the total count to 6,73,165. India crosses Russia to become the third-worst-affected nation in the world.
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