AGRA, India, (Reuters) - Watchtowers and  close-circuit televisions will help secure the Taj Mahal, one  of the world’s most visited monuments, as the busy tourist  season begins in India, a senior police officer said.

Based on input from intelligence agencies, security at the  Taj Mahal, a stunning 17th century marble mausoleum, has been  beefed up, said Brijbhooshan Singh, a deputy inspector general  of police in Agra, about 200 km from New Delhi.

The paramilitary Central Industrial Security Force is  responsible for protecting the monument, which draws hundreds  of thousands of visitors every year. Now its officers, and the  police, will also man eight watchtowers that ring the monument.

“The security personnel at the tower would be able to keep  a tight vigilance,” Singh said, adding they had also installed  barricades and CCTVs at the showpiece monument built by Mughal  ruler Shah Jahan after the death of his favourite wife Mumtaz.

“We plan to come up with more things in the future. We are  still working on them,” Singh said.

Security at public places in India has been stepped up  following last November’s attacks in Mumbai by militants, whose  targets included a busy train station and two luxury hotels.

Tourist arrivals into India, whose main tourist season runs  from November to March, plunged immediately after the attacks.  This year, it is expected that a gradual economic recovery and  heightened security will help bring in more tourists.

“I think security is very important because it would be a  great tragedy to have anything happen to it,” said Rosina

Wilson, a tourist at the Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage  Site that  combines elements of Persian, Indian and Islamic  architecture.

“Everyone in the world knows about the Taj and what it  represents,” she said.