All monuments can be opened from July 4, says Union Tourism Minister

Many monuments which closed even before the lockdown began, are still shut.

 

New Delhi(Agencies): All monuments that have been closed amid the Covid-19 pandemic can now be opened from July 4, Centre said Thursday.

 “@ASIGoI It has been decided that all the monuments can be opened with full security from 4th of July,” Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel said in a tweet.

Under Unlock 2 which got underway on July 1, the government is trying to open up more activities outside containment zones.

But the surge in the Covid-19 pandemic in many parts of the country has meant that people have largely kept away from monuments.

Many monuments that draw a large volume of tourists have been closed even before the lockdown began on March 25.

The Taj Mahal has been closed since March 17. The Agra fort has also remained closed.

Under Unlock 1 that began on June 8, the Union culture ministry had announced that 820 centrally-protected monuments with places of worship on their premises would be thrown open to the public. But Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha had said the ASI monuments under their jurisdiction will not be opened in light of the coronavirus threat.

In Delhi, the monuments that were allowed to open include the Afsah-wala-ki-Masjid situated outside the west gate of Humayun’s Tomb, the Qutub Minar and Nizamuddin Dargah.

Rajasthan started allowing visitors into monuments under Unlock 1 without tickets for 15 days. It later halved ticket prices to the monuments.