AGRA: The footfall of tourists at
Taj Mahal was recorded the lowest for the month of April on Wednesday when only 2808 tourists visited the monument.
Though the month of April is considered to be the 'off season' for Taj, the footfall has never gone so low, as about 12,000 to 15,000 people used to visit
Taj every day during the pre Covid times even during this period.
Confirming this, Superintending Archeologist (
Agra circle)
Vasant Swarnkar said the low turnout is probably due to the spike in
Covid-19 infection across the nation and the rising day temperatures. “Such a low figure was recorded when the monument reopened in September 2020 after lockdown,” he said.
According to available figures, the footfall was varying between 6-7000 in the past few days but it slumped to a record low on Wednesday. Uncertainty of lockdowns being imposed could have also additionally contributed to the decline.
On April 5—7890 tourists visited the monument and the number went down to 6477 the next day. On April 7, the footfall fell to 6227 but went up to 7122 visitors the next day. On the weekend—April 10 and 11, the footfall was recorded 7789 and 6839 respectively.
With the falling number of tourists to Taj, vice-president of Tourism Guild of Agra, Rajiv Saxena, said the second wave of Covid-19 has practically ruled out the possibility of any revival of the tourism industry in the near future.