Delhi: ASI monuments closed for visitors till May 15 amid second COVID-19 wave

By Team Newsable | First Published Apr 16, 2021, 1:17 PM IST

Monuments like Red Fort, Humayun’s Tomb, Safdarjung Tomb, Qutub Minar come under ASI and are centrally protected monuments.

New Delhi: With the number of positive Covid cases increasing at an alarming rate in India, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Thursday decided to shut all its monuments, museums, and protected sites including Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar and Humayun’s tomb till May 15 as a precautionary measure.

The monuments, which were shut in 2020 after the announcement of the lockdown in March, had reopened in July and were witnessing only a few visitors. Later, the daily visitors increased, even when tickets could only be procured online.

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Monuments like Red Fort, Humayun’s Tomb, Safdarjung Tomb, Qutub Minar come under ASI and are centrally protected monuments. Of these, Red Fort had been shut since January 19 due to bird flu cases.

An order to this effect was issued by the ASI and it was tweeted by Culture Minister Prahlad Patel.

"Due to the prevailing COVID situation, it has been decided to close all centrally protected monuments, sites and museums under the ASI with immediate effect and till May 15 or until further orders," the ASI said.

These include 3,693 monuments and 50 museums. In Delhi, there are about 170 historical structures with Archeological Survey of India and only 13 such as Red Fort, Humayun’s Tomb, Qutub Minar, Safdar Jung’s Tomb, Purana Quila, and Hauz Khas has paid entry. Red Fort, Qutub Minar, and Humayun’s Tomb are among the most visited sites in the city as they receive approximately 10,000 visitors every day.

In live monuments like Puri Jagannath Temple and Somnath Temple, daily 'puja' will be conducted but no public gathering will be allowed, said Nitin Tripathi, the ministry's media advisor.

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