January 5, 2006	Thursday	Zilhaj 4, 1426

LUCKNOW: December 17 last was a lucky day for the Taj Mahal. As many as 53 tourists turned up to view the monument of love by the moonlight.

It was a lucky day because on August 17 there were just four visitors. The much-hyped night viewing of the monument is proving to be a damp squib.

After the initial rush of honeymooners from places as far as Bangalore and Mumbai and busloads of foreign tourists in November 2004 when Taj opened up for night viewing under court orders, the craze seems to be fast dying out.

“The UP government needs to do something fast to hold on to the tourists,” Ashok Kumar, divisional commissioner of Agra, told the Times of India on Tuesday.

Visitors giving wide berth to the tantalising Taj by night have a good reason.

One, it is no fun standing at the distance of 296 metres, straining your eyes in darkness and missing most of its beauty. And two, it is not easy to book the tickets 24 hours in advance as required by the Supreme Court orders.

Apart from four visitors recorded on August 17, the register shows other lean days when the number of visitors stood at 6, 10 and 13.

December seemed comparatively fuller. As many as 16 tourists turned up on December 13. The figure went up to 22 on December 14 and the highest for the month was on December 17 as 53 tourists paid their nocturnal tribute to the monument.

Compare the number to the optimistic scene in the court order that envisages: “eight batches of 50 each not crossing 400, for one full moonlit night”.

So on July 15, the commissioner of Agra rushed a proposal to the state government asking it to apply to the Supreme Court to modify the order by making it more viewer-friendly.

The proposal recommended reducing the distance by half to 148 meters — up to the centre tank platform — and also allowing booking for same day till 5pm.

The job was delayed due to technical snags like obtaining a clearance from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and also the home ministry. The IB had feared a threat perception that had led to Taj’s closure in 1984.—By arrangement with The Times of India