Indians dent Agra Fort, Taj Mahal; foreigner shows concern

Agra: The Agra Fort, which was built by Mughal emperor Akbar between 1565 and 1573, is one of the most visited historic sites in the country that attracts lots of foreign visitors from across the world every year. But still the government does not pay any heed to its condition that is deteriorating only because of graffiti.

Recently, a Korean visitor, namely Jeong In-seo, came to India and visited Agra Fort, only to find it in a disastrous condition. The fort which is made of 20-meter walls and white marble had its walls ruined by graffiti, which has been done by the visitors, who find it monumental to write their names and date of their visit on the walls of a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Korean visitor said, "It’s a shame that a five hundred year old historic site is defaced by graffiti. Is their (the visitors) memory more important than the value of the remains? Photographs are enough for memories. People have to stop graffiti."

The visitor further stated that he went inside the fort as he found it attractive from outside but when he entered the historic building, he was shocked to see its walls were completely partially damaged and had nothing to reminisce the art and crafts of the ancient Indian history.

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He shockingly stated that there was not a single place inside the entire fort that was left unharmed by the tourists.

Meanwhile, the expression of the Korean visitor has started to trend over the social platforms and people are expressing their disgust over the incident.

Such foolish and irresponsible acts are not just limited to the Agra Fort as even the historic Taj Mahal is also suffering from the same issue.

Taj is also amongst the UNESCO World Heritage sites and provides livelihood to over 98 per cent people dwelling in its nearby region of Tajganj. According to an official data of 2016, the government had earned Rs 76 crore from the historic monument during past three years.

Similar to Agra Fort, Taj Mahal is also losing its charm just because of graffiti and the government is least concerned about it. Apart from the talks of conserving for the historic remains, the government has not taken a single impactful step to stop the visitors from making such childish mistakes.