Agra: The Archaeological Survey of India is ready to launch its online entrance ticket booking to the Taj Mahal from Christmas day. Tourism personnel in Agra have welcomed the long pending initiative which hoteliers think will curb unauthorized entry, fake ticket selling and other dubious means to gain entry to the world heritage monument.
The long queues at the booking windows will disappear as advance booking of e-tickets would be available online. The tourists will come armed with identity proof and printout of the tickets,” tourist guide Ved Gautam said.
Reselling of tickets has been a issue for the past several years but interest groups in the form of black marketeers were thwarting attempts to introduce the e-ticketing facility. But now the union culture and tourism ministry has given the green signal to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (ICRTC) which in collaboration with the national institute of smart governance, will operate and monitor the response beginning Dec 25, the birthday of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The Taj Mahal was visited by close to six million tourists in 2013. This year there has been a slight fall in the arrivals, according to industry sources. “But once air traffic increases, as it is most likely to after the announcement by the state government to reduce VAT on aviation fuel in Agra from 22 to just 4 percent, the number of tourists will rise,” said Rajiv Tiwari, president of the Federation of Travel Agents Associations.
The Taj is India’s pride and every effort should be made to ensure its safety and maintenance. “The pressure of humans has continued to increase each year, which can pose a problem. More alarming is the state of the polluted Yamuna River which runs without water for most of the year. This issue has to be addressed urgently as water in the river is a necessity for the survival of the Mughal monument,” R. Nath, eminent Mughal historian said IANS over the phone.
Bureau Report
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