The Crown of Palaces or the Taj Mahal, one of the wonders of this modern world built by Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan is now harder to access, and enjoy.
In a stunning decision, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to impose a 100% penalty, for staying more than 3 hours in the campus of Taj Mahal.
How feasible is this? And how will this get implemented?
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100% Penalty For Staying More Than 3 Hours
Archaeological Survey of India or ASI, which maintains the historical monument has decided to impose a penalty of 100% of the cost of the ticket, for anyone who spends more than 3 hours inside the monument.
Hence, a single ticket will now entitle only 3 hours inside the Taj Mahal.
Earlier, tourists could have spent 12 hours inside the campus: Taj Mahal is open for public 30 minutes before sunrise and closes 30 after sunrise.
But now, this 12 hours is curtailed to just 3 hours.
How Much Penalty You Will Be Asked To Pay?
Indians need to buy a ticket costing Rs 50 to enter the campus of Taj Mahal, and pay Rs 200 extra to enter the main mausoleum.
Hence, you can be asked to pay Rs 250 fine if you have spent more than 3 hours inside the Taj Mahal. Or Rs 50, if you haven’t bought the Rs 200 ticket for entering the main mausoleum.
Foreigners need to buy a ticket of Rs 1300 to enter the main mausoleum, and this means, they will need to shell out total of Rs 2600 for spending more than 3 hours.
Visitors from the SAARC countries are required to buy a ticket of Rs 740, which was earlier Rs 540.
Tourists Are Not Happy
This comes as a big shock for tourists, who are used to spending a considerable amount of time inside the historical monument but will be now asked to leave within 3 hours, or else, face the penalty.
A tourist, Seikh Nizam said, “This will discourage tourism. Time slot should be increased”
Speaking to ANI, Mohammad Mustafa Hussain, a tourist from Hyderabad, said, “A person comes here for relaxation and to spend some time. If the sightseeing is limited to three hours and the charges are so much then anyone will think twice before coming here.”
From now on, every ticket will have a time stamp, which will be checked during the exit. Based on the time spent, the authorities will impose the penalty on the tourists.
Why Did ASI Do This?
Last year in the month of February, the Supreme Court had slammed UP Govt for doing very little to preserve the monument and had demanded immediate steps to make sure that the beauty and the charm of this place is not spoiled.
As a result, ASI installed turnstile gates across East and West Gates, which will restrict unauthorized entry into the monument, and also control the crowd, as only one person can enter at a time.
No doubt, this will also increase revenues for ASI, as 3 hours is very less for absorbing and enjoying the real beauty of the great Taj Mahal.
We will keep you updated, as we receive more updates.
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