Monuments set to open, Delhiites thrilled to visit again, with precautions

Springing out of the car, a middle-aged man and his wife, with a glint in their eyes, started clicking selfies just outside Delhi's Red Fort. When asked if they miss visiting monuments in the national capital, they just want normalcy to reign again, excitedly they said. 

Their wish will come true soon as monuments across the country are set to open on July 6 with precautions in place. Though states are free to decide to open or not according to the COVID-19 situation in the respective states. Over 3,400 monuments were shut down by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on March 17, days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown.

Hearing this, Vinay, another passer-by squeaked with joy saying, "This will also boost small businesses which are set in and around these monuments and their sole income came from visitors. Owing to the lockdown, they had to face major losses in the last few months.” He adds, “We are ready for the precautions which will be in place, as normalcy returning doesn’t mean the danger is at bay. We have to be extra careful now that unlock 2.0 is unfolding now”.

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Centre issues SOP

The Ministry of Culture on Thursday issued a set of protocols, saying only those monuments which are in non-containment zones will be reopened. Entry tickets shall be issued by e-mode and only e-payments will be acceptable at the monument parking and cafeteria.

"There will be a cap on the number of visitors in select monuments... The visitors shall follow social distancing. The use of face cover/mask is mandatory. Entrance to have mandatory hand hygiene and thermal scanning provisions. Only asymptomatic persons are allowed. There shall be designated routes for entry & exit and movement within the monument," according to the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the ministry.

The visiting hours have been divided into two slots with visitors at most monuments being capped at 1000 per slot depending upon the footfall they receive, the SOP said.

“Now that interstate travel has opened up and we want to visit these monuments too since after a long time they are opening up. We are excited about this ruling by the government”, quipped another passer-by.

(PTI Photo for representation)

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