Most tourists on a day's visit to Agra see only the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. "Traffic jams right across the city have proved quite a dampener and increased the distances in time between monuments. This has affected tourism in a big way," said president of the Agra Hotels and Restaurants Association, Rakesh Chauhan.

 Those visiting Akbar's tomb at Sikandra, take hours to return towards the Taj Mahal, "because the whole MG Road is jammed throughout the day, causing enormous inconvenience to the tourists," according to hotelier Surendra Sharma. We suggest to the tourists to visit the Taj first and if there is time go to the nearest monument, Sharma added. "If they plan to go to Fatehpur Sikri, then they can’t visit other monuments."

 The hotels association has therefore published a new map and a brochure to persuade tourists to spend 3 days in Agra to see all the important sites from Bateshwar to Bharatpur and Chambal wilderness to the majestic beauty of the Taj Mahal. "If tourists can spend little more time, may be stay overnight, there would be so much less pressure on roads and monuments and the local tourism industry too would benefit," says Sandeep Arora, a hotelier of Taj Ganj area.

 Traffic bottlenecks have discouraged a large number of tourists from visiting monuments other than the Taj and the Fort, according to the president of the Guides Association, Shamshuddin.

Agra receives more than 10,000 tourists daily. In the peak season and on holidays the number can cross 35,000. "Each day a thousand vehicles enter Agra from Delhi, Jaipur and the East, but the roads are not able to cope with the rush. To compound the problem, the local authorities thoughtlessly inducted more than 50 Marco Polo buses to facilitate local transport. But where are the roads. Those that are there have been encroached upon and the police look helplessly inadequate to negotiate with the traffic jams," says Sumit Bibhav, a social activist.

Corruption in police rank is also a major issue, according to Shishir Bhagat, president of the Wake Up Agra group. "Instead of minding traffic movement and chasing away encroachers, the cops on duty seem more intent on collecting bribes from vehicle owners," Bhagat said.

For the past two weeks the Agra police has launched a major offensive against errant drivers and corrupt cops. DIG Dev Antony Kumar is himself a leading a campaign to streamline traffic movement within the city.