ATDF holds discussions with MoT officials on protection of Ajanta and Ellora Caves

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The Aurangabad Tourism Development Foundation (ATDF) held discussions on Tuesday with officials from the Central and State governments under the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) regarding measures to prevent damage to the Ajanta and Ellora caves and sculptures caused by large crowds on holidays. The meeting focused on 15 key points, including limiting the daily number of tourists, increasing the number of trained guides, setting up a training institute in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar similar to the one in Gwalior, and providing multilingual audio guides.

Present at the meeting were ATDF chairman Jaswant Singh, Civil Aviation Committee chairman Sunil Kothari, and Transport and Logistics Committee chairman Mohammad Ilyas. Discussions included the poor condition of roads between Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Ajanta Caves, the urgent need for clean and well-maintained toilets along the Ajanta route, providing Ellora Caves with night-time access similar to Bibi Ka Maqbara (open till 10 pm), and announcing Ellora–Ajanta festival dates for the next five years in advance.

A joint meeting of all concerned government departments has been scheduled for 8 January, with officials from various departments expected to attend. Sunil Kothari said that the 15 points raised by ATDF would be discussed in detail in this meeting, and concrete measures would be decided upon.