Crowds flock to Taj Mahal as restrictions lifted despite rising Covid cases

India hits more than 10 million infections and 150,000 deaths

Taj Mahal has removed the upper limit on the number of visitors (Reuters)

Tens of thousands of tourists have bought entrance tickets for the Taj Mahal as authorities lifted the cap on the number of visitors set during the pandemic.

India’s Covid caseload continues to rise but the infection rate has come down significantly from a mid-September peak and the country has been opening up in order to put life back on track. 

As part of that process, the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) removed the upper limit on the number of people allowed inside the tourist attraction from 1 January.

Since the Taj Mahal remains closed on Fridays, the ticket office opened on Saturday with high numbers of sales both online and offline. 

According to Times of India quoting figures provided by the ASI, a total of 20,190 tickets were sold on the first working day, including around 15,000 tickets online.

Earlier only online tickets were sold and a total of 5,000 people were allowed in the first phase, after the monument opened its doors after six months on 21 September.  

Local authorities later increased the upper limit in order to allow more visitors. The government announced the lifting of the upper limit fully on 18 December – applicable for all centrally controlled monuments around the country.

The TOI quoted Agra city circle superintending archaeologist Vasant Swarnkar saying: “Initially we had doubled the number to 10,000, hoping that no one would be disappointed. But due to the black marketing of tickets, tourists had to face problems.”

Talking about the Covid-19 guidelines, Mr Swarnkar said anyone violating the rules or not wearing a mask would be fined.

India became the second country to cross 10 million coronavirus cases in December and has witnessed over 150,000 deaths so far. 

The country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, announced a nationwide lockdown in March but the country began to ease restrictions from June.