Taj Mahal, India's biggest attraction and one of the world's most famous buildings, is turning a sludgy yellow-brown colour, prompting calls for urgent action. The monument is being badly affected by pollution which has caused the 400-year-old building's white marble to become discoloured. Now Indian judges have told ministers that more must be done to protect the iconic building from the smog coming from polluting industries nearby, which conservationists have long fought to close. India’s Supreme Court demanded a detailed plan to protect the historic site, warning the state government’s ad hoc approach was putting it in jeopardy.
Judges told the Uttar Pradesh to produce a ‘vision document’ outlining its plan for protecting the wonder of the world, which must be published within a month. But years of interventions - including using mudpacks to draw the stain from the stone - have failed to arrest the slow decay of the iconic building. The court expressed concern about a ‘sudden flurry of activities’ in the buffer zone around the monument which was intended to protect it from pollution.
The state government was also told to notify the court how many trees had been planted in the buffer zone before any further greenery was felled for construction works. The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in child birth in 1631. It has attracted world leaders and royalty, including Princess Diana, who was famously photographed alone on a marble seat there in 1992.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sat on the same bench at the end of a week-long royal tour of India in April 2016. Hollywood couple Catherine Zeta-Jones, 48, and Michael Douglas, 73, also posed outside the famous monument with their children in December last year. In 2016 nearly 6.5 million people visited the monument, situated in the city of Agra on the banks of the Yamuna river in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
But last month the government announced plans to cap visitor numbers to reduce wear and tear. Anyone wanting to see the main crypt, which houses the couple’s spectacular marble graves inlaid with semi-precious stones, will also have to pay for a more expensive ticket.
