Are you planning a trip to Agra to visit the iconic Taj Mahal? Well, if that’s the case, you need to read this. The historical monument has been served notices for property tax and water bills for the first time in its 370-year history. You read that right!
Agra Municipal Corporation has served notices to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) asking it to pay property tax and water bills for the iconic Taj Mahal. However, as per the officials of the ASI, it is a ‘mistake’, and it will be fixed soon.
How much the ASI has been asked to pay?
The ASI has been asked to pay property tax of around Rs 1.40 lakh and Rs 1 crore as water tax. ASI’s Superintending Archaeologist (Agra circle) Raj Patel told NDTV, “A notice for water tax and one for property tax has been issued. The property tax is around Rs 1.40 lakh and the water tax is around Rs 1 crore. Three notices have been received so far, two for the Taj Mahal and one for the Agra Fort.”
“First of all, property tax or house tax is not applicable to monument premises. Uttar Pradesh laws have this provision too and so do other states. As for the water notice, in the past, no such demand has been made and we do not have any water connection that we use for any commercial purposes. The lawns that we maintain inside the Taj complex are for public service and there is no question of dues,” he added.
The Taj Mahal had been declared a protected monument in 1920 and even during the British regime, no house or water tax had been levied on the monument, added ASI officials.
Other tourist places in Agra:
Agra is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about 230 kilometres south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. You can also visit Fatehpur Sikri, Mehtab Bagh, Akbar’s Tomb, Jahangir Mahal, and other historical monuments. That’s not all, you should try street food in Agra.