Worried at the steady depletion of tourists to the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to once again to pursue the long pending question of reopening the Taj Mahal during the night.

The government is worried particularly after its most picturesque Himalayan portion went to the newly formed state of Uttaranchal.

The Union home ministry had banned night viewing of the historic monument in 1984 following reports of the monument being on the hit list of terrorists.

The Supreme Court ratified the order after environmentalist and lawyer M C Mehta filed a public interest litigation. Mehta had been pursuing the cause of preservation of the world wonder for many years.

"In view of popular demand for reopening the night-viewing of the Taj, we are now going to make a request before the country's apex court to review its earlier decision of disallowing night viewing," state tourism minister Suresh Khanna said.

He said 'even in the past whenever such a move was mooted, it evoked tremendous response from the tourists across the globe'.

"We will try to explain to the apex court that since the government is prepared to ensure fool-proof security of the monument, it could reconsider its earlier decision," the minister said.

According to tourism officials, tour operators were flooded with inquiries from different parts of the world about night viewing of Taj.

With a view to restricting the crowds at night and in addition generate higher revenue for the maintenance of the area surrounding the Taj, the state government has also suggested a hike in the night-viewing charge from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000. The rate during the day is Rs 15 per head.

A higher package is being worked out for foreigners, who are already being charged US$ 20 at present.

The tourism department had also struck a deal with the Tamil Nadu Tourism department to exchange tourist packages between the two states.