Agra: Following the Supreme Court's order banning commercial activities within 500 meters of the Taj Mahal, the Agra Development Authority (ADA) Saturday notified all the businesses running in the marked periphery to wind up their establishments.
ADA Vice President Chachit Gaur on Saturday issued orders prohibiting commercial activities including hotels, emporiums, and shops within 500 meters of the Taj Mahal by October 17 failing which the administration and police will forcibly stop such activities.
On September 26, while deciding on an interlocutory application, the Supreme Court directed the Agra Development Authority (ADA) to stop all business activities within 500 metres’ radius of the Taj Mahal.
The order sent a wave of uncertainty in Tajganj locality around the monument, housing about 150 small and medium category hotels, emporia and about 500 odd shops after the ADA began a survey to identify and mark business activities around Taj.
Also read: Owners of around 500 shops near Taj Mahal fear closing of business after SC order
Haji Tahir Uddin Tahir, a resident at the South Gate said that around 40,000 to 50,000 people will be affected due to the order of the apex court as the workers of the shops, factories, and hotels in the Tajganj area will lose their jobs. "We will look for legal options available and unitedly fight for these people," he said.
Tahir added these shops have been running for many decades. A shopkeeper, who runs his shop at Western Gate at Taj Mahal said: "We somehow managed to overcome the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic. In my shop, there is a staff of seven people and we all would become unemployed as we would not have any other options to run our houses."
Sunil Shrivastava, a shopkeeper whose store is located at the East Gate of the Taj Mahal said this order would affect the livelihoods of "about 40,000 to 50,000 people" who are dependent on these commercial activities. "They would become unemployed and have no other option to run their houses," he said.
