If a proposal by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), aimed at reducing crowds at India’s most valued monument Taj Mahal, is implemented, one may not be able to view the monument for more a couple of hours.
The ASI’s counsel, A D N Rao informed the Supreme Court that visiting hours of the monument will be divided into sessions and will not exceed 3-4 hours for a particular session.
On the question of crowd management inside the monument, the ASI put forth a new system of issuing tickets that would be time bound. They will issue tickets with different colours, signifying different shifts, reports The Indian Express.
In his proposal to the bench led by Chief Justice of India T S Thakur, Rao said,
“Every session will have tickets in a particular shade. With every tourist holding a ticket of a particular shade, it would be convenient to segregate them on the basis of permissible duration of their stay.”
He also stated that the ticket will become invalid once the visitor leaves the premises of the monument.
The restrictions have been put after the ASI observed that too many visit the Taj Mahal with the intention of whiling away time on the benches and garden, showing no interest in the monument, reports Hindustan Times.
However, the above norms will not be valid during full moon nights and people will be allowed to view the white marble monument for 45 minutes, as opposed to the former 30 minutes duration, says the report.