BHUBANESWAR: Non-Living monuments, archaeological sites and museums under protection of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Odisha - barring the Sun Temple at Konark - will open for tourists from July 6 amid Covid safety precautions.
Only monuments and museums in non-containment zones will be opened with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols. “Protected temples will, however, not be opened till orders of the Odisha Government,’’ Superintending Archaeologist, Bhubaneswar Circle, Arun Malik, said.
As per the agency’s safety guidelines, visitors will be given a time window for moving round the monuments and museums.
Those visiting ticketed monuments will have to make e-payments for entry, parking and cafeteria use on the monument premises. Only e-tickets will be issued to the visitors and they would be allowed to enter after hand washing and thermal screening.
“While no public gathering and group photography will be allowed at any of the sites, all the non-living monuments will have designated and single-line entry and exit points and routes for movement within the premises”, said Malik.
Entry into interior parts of monuments has been restricted while wearing masks and maintaining safe distance is mandatory. Monuments, sites and museums will be sanitised at regular intervals every day to maintain hygiene and ASI staff will record details of the tourists to help contact tracing if required, he informed. The Konark Sun Temple and the Atharnulla bridge at Puri will be opened after July 31 only under approval of the district administration. ASI shut down the Sun temple since March 15 to prevent entry of tourists in wake of the pandemic.
On an average, 5000 tourists visited the monument daily before the Covid restrictions were imposed. Other sites, monuments and museums under ASI protection have been closed since March 17. The ASI has three sub-circles in Odisha - Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Dhenkanal - which have 31 monuments, prehistoric sites besides two museums at Ratnagiri and Lalitagiri under Jajpur and Cuttack districts respectively.