Agra Dev Authorities' apathy leads to death of tourist at Taj Mahal
Vijay Upadhyay
Agra. Agra Development Authority's failure in installing cardiac defibrillators at Taj Mahal led to the death of a tourist inside the monument on Saturday.
According to ASI sources, Bachhubhai Hirji Dedia, a resident of Raija, Malad East in Mumbai, arrived in Agra on Saturday alongwith a group of about 450 tourists to visit historical monuments.
They said at about 4 pm the same day they visited the Taj Mahal and as Bachhubhai entered the premises he complained of dizziness and chest pain. He stayed at red-sandstone platform while the rest moved ahead. Soon afterwards, the ill-fated tourist collapsed on the stairs of the platform, and even before he could be rushed to Agra district hospital, Bachhubhai was pronounced dead.
The incident has outraged organisations associated with tourism in Agra. They were shocked that no medical help was provided to the tourist at the monument and despite knowing that the tourist could not possibly survive the long trip to the district hospital located deep in the city, he was not taken to any nearby hospital - there are plenty in the area.
Moreover, the organisations have expressed their anger over the non-availability of para-medical staff at a monument where tens of thousands of tourists visit every day.
An eye-witness said neither the ASI staff nor the Central Industrial Security Force staff appeared to be trained in delivering Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and they appeared to be in a hurry to pack off the dying tourist to the district hospital instead of summoning medical help on the spot.
Notably, the ADA had decided to install portable cardiac defibrillators at the Taj Mahal, besides other major monuments in Agra by January this year, but they never arrived.
ADA vice-chairman Shashikant Sharma said the defibrillators were to be purchased with the toll-tax collected from the monuments as a part of the entry ticket by the ADA and the purchase of the machines had been delayed due to some technicalities.
According to ASI sources, Bachhubhai Hirji Dedia, a resident of Raija, Malad East in Mumbai, arrived in Agra on Saturday alongwith a group of about 450 tourists to visit historical monuments.
They said at about 4 pm the same day they visited the Taj Mahal and as Bachhubhai entered the premises he complained of dizziness and chest pain. He stayed at red-sandstone platform while the rest moved ahead. Soon afterwards, the ill-fated tourist collapsed on the stairs of the platform, and even before he could be rushed to Agra district hospital, Bachhubhai was pronounced dead.
The incident has outraged organisations associated with tourism in Agra. They were shocked that no medical help was provided to the tourist at the monument and despite knowing that the tourist could not possibly survive the long trip to the district hospital located deep in the city, he was not taken to any nearby hospital - there are plenty in the area.
Moreover, the organisations have expressed their anger over the non-availability of para-medical staff at a monument where tens of thousands of tourists visit every day.
An eye-witness said neither the ASI staff nor the Central Industrial Security Force staff appeared to be trained in delivering Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and they appeared to be in a hurry to pack off the dying tourist to the district hospital instead of summoning medical help on the spot.
Notably, the ADA had decided to install portable cardiac defibrillators at the Taj Mahal, besides other major monuments in Agra by January this year, but they never arrived.
ADA vice-chairman Shashikant Sharma said the defibrillators were to be purchased with the toll-tax collected from the monuments as a part of the entry ticket by the ADA and the purchase of the machines had been delayed due to some technicalities.
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