After SC nudge, Taj carrying capacity being studied by IIT Delhi

Agra: A three-member team from IIT Delhi visited Taj Mahal complex on Saturday to study the monument’s carrying capacity. Amid crowd management concerns, the exercise follows recommendation by the Supreme Court (SC)-appointed Central Empowered Committee to minimise the damage caused by increasing footfall.The committee had recommended putting a cap on the number of visitors and submitted its recommendations to the apex court. Following SC’s directions in connection with the vision document case, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) decided to conduct a survey through IIT Delhi experts and reached out to the institution.ASI’s senior conservation assistant Kalandar Bind told TOI: “Experts from IIT Delhi’s civil engineering department spent over two hours at the complex. They visited the main mausoleum and checked the East Gate entry point to find out the time taken by a tourist to enter the Taj premises. They observed how much time tourists usually spend at Royal Gate along with other key areas. They’re now preparing a detailed report which will be submitted soon.”Superintending archaeologist, Agra Circle, Dr Smita Kumar added: “IIT Delhi was asked to determine the number of tourists to be ideally allowed inside the mausoleum and the monument complex at a time.”Notably, around 25,000 to 30,000 tourists visit Taj daily, as per records, while the number even crosses 50,000 on weekends and public holidays, especially since the entry is free for visitors below 15 years of age on those days.In 2015, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) had submitted a report on carrying capacity and crowd management. But following recommendations of the CEC, a fresh study has now been conducted by experts from IIT Delhi.To control overcrowding at the mausoleum, the ASI had implemented an additional fee of Rs 200 on Dec 10, 2018, based on NEERI’s report. As a result, the number of daily visitors to the main mausoleum became fewer.