Intense cold affects tourism in Taj city

According to the Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association in Agra, the number of tourists arriving in the city has registered a sharp decline and the bookings have been cancelled hitting the tourism industry badly.

The president of the Association, Rakesh Chuhan, said that a large number of bookings have been cancelled mainly owing to the biting cold conditions and foggy weather prevailing in the city for the past several days. It’s a tough time for the scores of guides also, whose livelihood depends mainly on taking visitors around the Taj Mahal and other tourists spots in the city.

“Poor visibility has forced people to remain indoors... It is not possible to clearly view the Taj in such poor visibility in the morning and evenings,” said Shamsuddin, an office bearer of the city’s Guides’ Association.

Abhishek Bachchan too got a taste of the foggy weather as the shooting of an ad film featuring him too was cancelled till Sunday, according to sources in the tourism department.
With the mercury dipping to 3.3 degree Celsius, Agra remained the coldest place in Uttar Pradesh as the death toll owing to intense cold conditions mounted to 650.
Ten people have died of cold in Deoria, Sant Kabirnagar, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Basti, Bareilly, Sitapur, Bahraich, Mathura, Banda, Faizabad, Jaunpur and Agra.
Public transport too has been affected with a number of trains and flights either delayed or cancelled.
DH News Service