COVID-19: Taj Mahal, other Agra monuments reopening cancelled! Here’s all you need to know

Monuments all over the country had been closed since March.

Coronavirus in India: Agra monuments to not open today! In view of the increasing number of coronavirus cases, the iconic Taj Mahal and other monuments in the city of Agra will not be opening for tourists from Monday, according to a report in Reuters. The governmental order has been withdrawn as the authorities have expressed concern over the risk of new cases entering the cities with the tourists. The report added that a new order was issued by the city authorities on Sunday, extending the lockdown placed on the monuments in and around Agra.

The order has not given a date till when the monuments will remain closed, the report stated. The report cited the order as saying that keeping in view the interest of the public, authorities had decided to keep the monuments closed for now. Monuments all over the country had been closed since March, when the coronavirus spread in India, and the Centre decided to open the historical monuments only from Monday. However, the reopening of these structures was contingent on the compliance of the state as well as district authorities.

The report also quoted a district administration official in Agra as saying that the authorities did not expect a cluster of visitors around the historical monument in any case, since the shops and hotels in the area were closed.

Meanwhile, the cases of COVID-19 in India are on a steep rise, with the country reporting the highest single-day number of 24,248 cases and nearly 500 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases in India to 6.97 lakhs, according to the news agency ANI which cited the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This number pushed India to the third position globally in terms of absolute number of total coronavirus cases, replacing Russia.

The government has been opening domestic travel in phases, and with domestic flights being allowed to operate, the government has been hoping that people would visit some of the popular destinations, even as containment zones continue to be under strict lockdown, according to the Reuters report.