Taj Mahal, Agra Fort to reopen for tourism from September 1

New Delhi : Nearly six months have passed when India had imposed a lockdown to stop spread of coronavirus and since then most of the tourist places have remained closed. The district magistrate of Agra on Thursday ordered to reopen the historic monuments in the city, including Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, from September 1.

"All monuments, except Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, have been excluded from the list of ‘Buffer Zones’; they will be re-opened for visitors from September 1, as per their scheduled timings," Agra District Magistrate PN Singh said.

A review meeting was held by the district magistrate in this regards on Thursday. The district administration is planning to reopen the historic monuments in the city including Fatehpur Sikri and Sikanadara Tomb along with Taj Mahal and Agra Fort in the first phase.

The reopening of monuments comes after coronavirus situation in Agra is majorly under control.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 guidelines, including social distancing and use of masks, will be strictly implemented after the monuments are reopened for visitors.

These historic monuments were supposed to reopen from July 6 but got delayed as coronavirus cases were high in this district of the state. Moreover, these monuments were coming under the COVID-19 buffer zones in July.

The Central government had on July 2 announced that all monuments across the country will be reopened to tourists from July 6 after remaining closed for more than three months because of the corona situation.