Shah Jahan urs: Conservationists oppose free entry to Taj Submitted by admin4 on 28 June 2011 - 6:26pm Indian Muslim

By Brij Khandelwal, IANS, Agra : Conservationists are aghast at the decision to permit unrestricted access to the Taj Mahal for three days from Tuesday for the annual urs of Mughal emper or Shah Jahan, saying this goes against their campaign to reduce the human load on the 17th century monument. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to permit free entry of vis itors during the urs June 28-30. This year, ASI and tourism circles estimate that a record number of people would visit the monument during the urs. "The number could cross 1.5 lakh," a hotelier estimated. "Why they can not have some kind of a quota system to restrict the entry? The sa fety of both the devout and the monument has to be ensured. Of particular worry is the casual approach of the security personnel who allow everyone in without f risking," Rajeev Tiwari, a senior tourism industry leader, said. According to Surendra Sharma, president of NGO Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society, "for a long time, we have been trying to persuade the authorities to r estrict the number of visitors and switch over to online booking of entry ticket s, but to no effect. The number of visitors keeps going up every day". "If you closely monitor the health of the monument," said tourist guide Ved Gaut am, "you will find unmistakable proof of fatigue and distress. Some of the ugly scars are man-made. It has an oily surface due to touching by hordes of visitors . The main staircase leading to the main platform, is almost gone, though they h ave now put a protective wooden cover". "The red sandstone lined pavements bear the stress marks so boldly, calling for urgent measures to reduce the human load," Gautam added. Last year too, the monument was flooded with tourists and the devout during the urs, causing additional stress and pressure on the monument. The ASI had come un der considerable flak for overlooking security considerations. Entry to the real graves of Shah Jahan and his empress, Mumtaz Mahal, is allowed only during the urs. People choke the chambers where the real graves are locate d. There is hardly enough room for free movement and this is a matter of concern , say conservationists. Deputy Superintending Archaeologist M.C. Sharma had recently discussed the arran gements with members of the urs organising committee headed by Ibrahim Zaidi and appealed to them to refrain from bringing loudspeakers, drums and musical instr uments inside. Additional District Magistrate (City) Arun Prakash reviewed the security arrange ments with Siddharth Verma, the circle officer of the Taj security office. In 1993, the Supreme Court appointed high-powered committee headed by S. Vardara jan had recommended restrictions and control on entry of visitors to the Taj. since then, the Taj is closed to visitors every Friday.

(Brij Khandelwal can be contacted at brij.k@ians.in) Share Comment viewing options Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to a ctivate your changes. This socalled Tourist Submitted by tasnim faruqi (not verified) on 29 June 2011 - 9:20am. This socalled Tourist Industry leader is more concerned with his 5 - 7 stars vis itors and bungling at the entry. There is a reason why 13 different agencies are taking so much interest, 20/- for Indian and rs.750/- for foreigners. Who cares for Taj. Just think how much pain and money people spent to see their Taj, but public are treated like criminals. Was the reply to me from a security-wala, " a ap ehsaan nahin kar rahen hai yahan aa ke " Increase the ticket by rs.5/-, provi de them water for washing hands, niboo-paani and tea and let them have a relaxed atmosphere. This band-baaja and going inside the main chambers does not give se nse and that is the retaliation, anyhow our Urdu have been wiped-out by ASI. Isi se paisa kama rahen hai, aur isi ka satyanaas kiey huay hai. Sharam ki cheez ha i. faruqi - photojournalist - 09810315813 reply Share