E-Paper
Mehtab Bagh opens for visitors after Yamuna level recedes
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will re-open Mehtab Bagh in Agra on August 3 after the water level of the Yamuna river receded below the alert level. Mehtab Bagh is a protected site located behind the Taj Mahal.
With Yamuna water level receding below alert level in Agra on Wednesday, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to re-open Mehtab Bagh from August 3.
Mehtab Bagh is an ASI protected site which lies on the rear side of the Taj Mahal.
The Mehtab Bagh got inundated with the flood water on July 18 after the Yamuna swelled on account of water released from Hathnikund barrage in Haryana, Okhla Barrage in Delhi and Gokul Barrage in Mathura. The water level had touched the mark of 499.2 feet breaching the Medium Flood Level mark at 499 feet for Yamuna in Agra.
By July 18, the Yamuna water had already covered Taj View Point, a site developed for viewing the Taj Mahal on moonlit nights from the northern side of the monument. The Taj View Point lies exactly on the banks of the Yamuna.
The water had spread in garden areas of Mehtab Bagh on July 18 and as such ticket sale was stopped for visitors here.
However, the water receded on Wednesday to 494.9 feet which is even below alert level of 495 feet mark.
“Mehtab Bagh will open from August 3 (Thursday) for public and general visitors,” said Raj Kumar Patel, superintending archaeologist for Agra circle of ASI at Agra.
Mehtab Bagh has lush green lawns with an excavated octagonal tank believed to belong from the period of Mughal emperor Babur, founder of Mughal empire.
