VVIPs push Taj Mahal tourists out

Hundreds of tourists were forced to vacate Taj Mahal on Saturday as ministers from over 30 least developed countries (LDCs) of Africa and Asia Pacific region were coming to the monument for a visit.

The tourists were annoyed when their tour to the Taj came to an abrupt end. Being a weekend and because of the ongoing Taj Mahotsav, there was a huge rush at the historic monument.
Authorities, however, said they had to do so in view of the security of the visiting VVIP contingent. Agra district magistrate Ajay Chauhan said, “We generally try to accommodate tourists along with visiting VVIPs.

“But in this case, the number of VVIPs was large because of which we had to vacate the premises to ensure foolproof security. We had also informed the tourists about a tentative VVIP visit on Saturday afternoon,” Chauhan told DNA.

Every year two million tourists come to visit Taj Mahal, resulting in revenue of over Rs10 crore every year in lieu of entry fees to the monument.

There are 48 LDCs, which include 33 from Africa and 14 from Asia and Haiti from Latin America. As per the UN, LDCs are countries which have a three-year average estimate of gross national income per capita of less than $905.