Agra's National Chamber of Industries and Commerce has demanded heritage city status for Agra. Chamber president Atul Gupta and senior members of the organization have urged the union government to support the heritage city status for Agra, so that the UNESCO can recognize the Taj city as a repository of architectural treasure which needs better conservational efforts.

The demand has acquired a degree of urgency and importance because the union culture ministry is toying with the idea of recognizing Varanasi as a heritage city, being the constituency of the prime minister, says Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society.

The Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort continue to top earnings for the Archaeological Survey of India. Tourism minister Shripad Y Naik in an answer to a question in the Rajya Sabha said the Taj yielded Rs 21.84 crores and the Fort Rs 10.22 crores from entrance tickets, both toping the list fiscal 2013-14.

In view of the importance of the Taj Mahal and other monuments to the tourism sector and the contribution to the exchequer, a number of  voluntary organizations in the city have sent memorandums to the union culture ministry to demand heritage city status to Agra which is home to three world heritage monuments - the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. Two other monuments Akbar's tomb at Sikandra and Etmauddaula are in the pipeline, for the status. The city has numerous historical structures, old havelis, water bodies, forests and even an oriental market in the old city.

Agra was founded in 1504 by Sikandar Lodi. Since than the city has been a major political centre, first under the Mughals, later the British. But after independence it lost its pre-eminent position to Lucknow, the state capital. Not just the stone monuments, Agra is famous for Petha, leather shoes, inlay work, jardozi, and other similar crafts. As the headquarter of the Radhasoami faith, a major Sufi centre, the land of Sri Krishna-Radha, as the birth place of the eclectic faith Din-e-Ilahi, and Sulah Kul doctrine of Akbar, which evolved as Secularism in modern India, the city of monuments, deserves a status of its own.
Agra  hasn`t changed much if one takes into account a ghazal written in 1723 by Lakshmi Chandra, who describes in great detail the roads and the localities of  - from the  Fort to Charsu Darwaza and beyond to Lashkarpur - which was then the tenting ground for the Mughal army.
 

In 2007, the union tourism ministry told the Supreme Court that since the city lacked an adequate infrastructure, the demand for heritage status could not be considered. But till date, the Agra does not have regular air connectivity, streamlined roads, adequate security arrangements for visitors and other related facilities.

International bodies including the UNESCO have supported projects to restore the old glory of Mughal Agra. A World Bank team recently visited several sites and interacted with officials to explore how "Pro-Poor" tourism could be promoted and heritage  preserved. A few projects have been short-listed.

Conservationists in Agra say that though the demand has been made several times, there has been no positive response from the central government. The whole of Braj Mandal, from Agra to Vrindavan is so rich in culture and architecture, where every street has historical building. Not only should heritage assets conserved for posterity but the administration should  draw up plans to remove encroachments around tourist sites.

Unfortunately, the locals lack a sense of pride in their history. The chief reason why tourism has not become "everybody`s business" and not directly benefited people  in a substantial manner is the lack of "heritage-consciousness."