With the Covid-19 pandemic now under control, normalcy is returning to business activities in Agra.

As the number of visitors to the 17th-century monument of love, the Taj Mahal increased from a trickle to over 30,000 on Sunday, there were discernible signs of relief and hope in the tourism sector which had seen an unprecedented dismal phase due to the Covid-19 pandemic for nearly two years.

Agra has already been declared Pandemic-free as the number of cases in the past fortnight has been zero and all the active cases under treatment have been discharged. The only element of worry now was an alarming rise in dengue cases which has taken a heavy toll in Agra, Mathura, and Firozabad. Children have been the worst hit, but health department officials said, the overall situation was under control. The Agra administration has taken a series of measures to provide prompt medical care in the rural hinterland.

Meanwhile, tourism got another booster shot when Agra was air-connected to Lucknow two days ago. Flights are now available for Bangalore, Nagpur, Ahmedabad. Bhopal and Mumbai will soon be connected, officials said. The construction of a new terminal and an independent access road outside the Air Force area is continuing at a brisk pace. Former UP minister Aridaman Singh and the local MP, now union minister of state for law SP Singh Baghael, have urged the union civil aviation minister to connect Agra with several other cities.

The tourism industry in Agra is hoping for the return of “business as good as before” once international flights resume operations. Right now the number of tourists from abroad is negligible, tourist guide Ved Gautam said. “But before international tourists start arriving, the UP police has to streamline its working outside the Taj Mahal, particularly at the ticket counters. Every now and then there is a scuffle or heated arguments over machines or scanners not working, or identification problems. Tickets are presently available only online,” Gautam added.

The chief worry of the tourism trade remains the traffic jam problem in the city. Tourist vehicles get stranded for hours on the Yamuna Kinara road and near the Akbar’s tomb at Sikandra. Senior police officials after meetings with administrative officials have assured action to address the traffic issues. Due to the laying of the Ganga Jal pipeline on the Yamuna bank and construction work for the Metro on the Fatehabad road, long stretches have been dug up. This is affecting traffic movement.

But the Agra mayor Navin Jain has promised to fill up all potholes on the roads and widen some stretches to ease traffic pressure.

With the festival season around the bend, the local hotels and petha plus handicrafts industries are buoyed up. “These two years have been disastrous for business, we are now hoping for a turnaround.

With elections early next year, there should be plenty of money in circulation along with business swing,” hope Rajiv Gupta, a businessman and former president of the National Chamber of Industries and Commerce.