SC: ‘Direct Agra Development Authority to Remove any Economic Operations Within 500 Metres Radius of Taj Mahal’

Khushi Bajpai

Published on: September 27, 2022 at 21:25 IST

The Agra Development Authority has been ordered by India’s apex court to immediately halt all commercial activity within a 500-meter radius of the Taj Mahal’s famed outer wall.

Another UNESCO World Heritage Site is the Taj Mahal.

The Supreme Court agreed with the arguments, was informed that a similar order had been granted in May 2000, but felt it was appropriate to restate the directive, and instructed the Agra Development Authority to immediately stop all commercial activity within a 500-meter radius of the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal’s white marbles have been shown to be yellowing as a result of growing pollution in the area around the monument.

According to a study on the causes of the Taj Mahal’s fading color, nano-sized carbon aerosol particles are causing the marble’s surface to gradually lose its gloss.

A.D.N. Rao, a seasoned attorney who is serving as the court’s Amicus Curiae, argued before the bench that the Taj Mahal should be closed to all commercial activity.

The Agra Development Authority was instructed to guarantee compliance with its order about the 17th-century white marble mausoleum by a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and AS Oka.

The order was issued by the top court after it heard a request asking it to tell the authorities to forbid commercial activity within a 500-meter radius of the revered monument.

“We approve the prayer that reads—Direct the Agra Development Authority to remove any economic operations within 500 metres from the boundary/peripheral wall of the monument Taj Mahal which shall be in line with Article 14 of the Constitution of India,” the top court stated in its judgment.

A no-construction zone as well as stringent vehicle movement restrictions exist within a 500 m radius of the monument.

Additionally, burning wood close to the monument as well as municipal rubbish and agricultural waste around the region are prohibited.

A group of store owners who had been given permission to operate their operations outside of the 500-meter zone submitted the application. They informed the court that illicit business activities were being conducted close to the Taj Mahal, blatantly violating earlier rulings by the Supreme Court.

The top court is currently handling a case involving the preservation and protection of the Taj Mahal, which was erected in 1631 by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in remembrance of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, and its surrounds.

In order to protect the Taj Mahal, the delicate ecosystem that surrounds it, and construction in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), an “eco-sensitive area” that is home to four World Heritage Sites, including the Taj Mahal, environmentalist MC Mehta submitted a petition.

Additionally a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the mausoleum.

The Taj Mahal Conservation Zone (TTZ) is a 10,400 sq km area spread across the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras, and Etah in Uttar Pradesh, and Bharatpur district in Rajasthan.

The TTZ was established on December 30, 1996, as a result of a Supreme Court order, to protect the Taj Mahal from pollution.

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