Either you shut it or demolish it... SC slams Centre on Taj Mahal protection
New Delhi, July 11 (IBNS): Lambasting the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh Government for what it called "lethargy," in taking measures to save the Taj Mahal, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said protecting the spectacular 17th-century marble mausoleum has become a “hopeless cause”, media reports said.
The top court ordered the formation of a committee to find out the source of pollution damaging the monument and said from July 31 it will hold daily hearings on how to protect the edifice.
“Either you shut it, demolish it or restore it,” said the court, expressing dissatisfaction at the Ministry of Environment and Forest’s response on how to protect the monument.
The top court was hearing a petition that calls for proper maintenance of the Taj, a world famous monument that draws thousands of visitors from across the globe throughout the year.
The Taj "is more beautiful than the Eiffel Tower" and could have solved the country's foreign exchange problem, the judges noted.
The court tore into the Uttar Pradesh Government for failing to protect the monument and said a parliamentary standing committee’s report had been ignored.
The court also asked the chairman of the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) to explain the violation of its ban on the expansion of industrial units in the zone.
The Supreme Court had earlier this year blamed the Archeological Survey of India for its failure to take appropriate steps to protect and preserve the iconic monument built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
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