Aurangabad, June 16:
The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) chairperson and collector Sunil Chavan and the commissioner of police (CP) Nikhil Gupta, after reviewing the positivity percentage of Covid patients in the urban and rural sector in the district, have allowed the re-opening of monuments and heritage sites of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI, Aurangabad Circle), from tomorrow (June 17).
The order duly signed by the above two bureaucrats, however, grants permission for 1,000 visitors each in the morning and the afternoon sessions. The visitors will have to follow Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) by wearing masks, using sanitisers, and maintaining social distance at the sites. The violation of the order will not be tolerated and strict action would be taken against the violators, it warned.
The DDMA reviewed that the positivity percentage of patients is 0.45 pc (in the urban sector) and 4.27 pc (in the rural sector) from June 11 to 14 in the district. Besides, the percentage of patients occupying oxygen beds is 10.80 pc. Hence the ASI has been allowed to re-open the monuments from June 16 (7 am). The custodians have been instructed to clean the campuses of each monument and then allow entry to tourists from June 17 (6 am) at the monuments.
It may be noted that the DDMA has granted relaxation to unlock the situation in the district from June 7. However, the monuments were not allowed to re-open. Later on, the ASI (headquarter, New Delhi) decided (on June 14) to re-open all its monuments in the country from June 16. Hence the ASI officials corresponded and pursued the matter. Accordingly, the DDMA had a meeting on Tuesday with ASI officials and other departments concerned and took the decision and announced it today.