Lucknow, June 25: Have the recent petitions claiming property rights over the Taj Mahal dimmed its lustre and kept away tourists?

Yes, says the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which is fighting the last remaining one of these property claims.

No, asserts the tourism ministry, which claims a boom in footfalls across India, including to its most famous monument.

“The adverse publicity over the legal battles of the past seven months has cost us dear,” said S.K. Sharma, assistant superintendent of the ASI, Agra Circle, which maintains the Taj. “It has reduced tourist flow. Especially, it has kept away the foreigners, who are sensitive to any bad publicity over any site they plan to visit.”

“This is completely incorrect,” said Amitabh Kant, joint secretary, ministry of tourism. “Foreign tourist arrival between January and May this year has gone up by 22 per cent. Of this, 40 per cent comes to north India and each one visits Agra to see the Taj Mahal.”

Tour operators are divided. Iqbal Qureshi, chief of Asian Tour Network, confirmed a sharp fall in the number of tourists this summer. “At some of our hotels, bookings have fallen by 85 per cent,” he said. “There were just 350 foreign tourists this year compared with over 1,000 last year and 1,200 the year before.”

“This year, because of the sustained, confusing waqf property controversy, tourism has taken a hit,” agreed Suresh Dwivedi, who has been in the business for the last 15 years.

But Subhash Goyal, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators in Delhi, said: “India is witnessing an increase in foreign tourist arrivals on a year-on-year basis. A majority of this traffic visits the Taj Mahal. Foreign footfalls have not come down at all.”

The ASI was hoping the legal wrangle would end today with the Sunni Waqf Board passing its verdict on the petition of its member Irfan Beddar, who wants the Taj declared waqf property. But the board put the matter off till July 13.

Beddar had filed his petition last November in the Allahabad High Court, which had referred the matter to the board, a quasi-judicial body authorised to hear any dispute over the community’s property.

The petition had opened the gates for a flood of similar claims ? from the Shia board, a Sangh parivar activist who claimed the monument for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and a couple of individuals to the descendants of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar.

All the claims were rejected by either the high court or the waqf board, with Beddar’s the only one left.

But each time an application was filed, the media went for an “overkill”, putting off potential tourists, allege ASI officials.

According to them, the Taj draws more than 15,000 tourists during the November-February peak season, of which foreigners make up 25-30 per cent. Even in summer, when the number falls to around 10,000, foreigners account for about 10 per cent of it.

But this summer, the number of tourists is down by 10 per cent from normal, and the proportion of foreigners has fallen to about 3 per cent, the officials claimed.

“Foreigners do not understand the intricacies of this legal battle,” an ASI official said. “They wrongly perceive a threat to their safety and drop the destination from their itinerary.”

The high court had asked the waqf board to dispose of the matter in six months. But board chairman Hafiz Mohammad Usman, who had promised to announce his verdict at 11 am today, instead opted for a round of drama before postponing it.

He waited till 11.30 am while reporters and TV crew packed into his 9 feet by 10 feet office. Board members were asked to face the cameras as the chairman ostensibly prepared to announce the verdict. Then came the anti-climax.

“We are yet to obtain some documents from outside,” Usman said. “I will announce the verdict on July 13.”

At this, Beddar flew into a rage. He said he was walking out in protest ? his next destination would be the high court again.

A minute later, just outside the office, he faced the cameras to give his version. He unwrapped a garland he had brought with him, put it around his neck and said he would now “officially” declare himself caretaker.