Page 67 - Tehelka Issue 14E

COLUMN

Monumental mistakes:

From Wah Taj! to Oh Taj!

THE LAST ndia’s Supreme Court recently advised 1971, scaffolding were again raised to mis-
the Central and Uttar Pradesh govern-
lead bomber pilots.
WORD ments to either shut down the Taj Ma- vironmental pollution on the banks of
The latest threats have come from en-
hal, demolish it or restore it. The state-
ABDUL WASEY I ment was obviously out of anger and the Yamuna River. The pollution has been
exasperation against indifference of the turning the Taj Mahal yellow. To help con-
concerned authorities. For past 31 years, the trol the pollution, the Indian government
apex court has been trying to save the 17th has set up the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), a
century monument by passing a slew of 10,400-square-kilometre area around the
orders to force governments and Archaeo- monument where strict emissions stand-
logical Survey of India to take up restoration ards are in place. But the TTZ authority, it
work on a war-footing. All its suggestions seems, is not so serious about curbing the
and verdicts seem to have no takers. pollution in the area. On July 11, the Supreme
The latest scolding from the court came Court grilled it for considering proposals to
in response to a petition citing concerns expand industries in the city of Taj Mahal
about the impact of pollution on Agra’s ivo- when there was an “ad hoc moratorium”
ry-white marble mausoleum, which draws on it.
about 70,000 people every day. In May this Concerns for the tomb’s structural integ-
year, the court had instructed the govern- rity have recently been raised because of a
ment to seek foreign help to fix the “wor- decline in the groundwater level in the Ya-
rying change in colour” of the Shah Jahan- muna river basin which is falling at a rate of
built structure that first turned yellow and around 1.5 m per year.
was now turning brown and green due to In 2010, cracks appeared in parts of the
pollution, construction and insect dung. tomb, and the minarets which surround the
This is not the first time that the beauty monument were showing signs of tilting, as
of the world’s seventh wonder is under the wooden foundation of the tomb may be
threat. In the 18th century, the Jat rulers rotting due to lack of water.
of Bharatpur invaded Agra and attacked Politicians, however, suggest that
Taj Mahal. The two chandeliers, one of ag- the minarets are designed to tilt slightly
ate and another of silver that were hung outwards to prevent them from crash -
over the main cenotaph, were taken away ing on top of the tomb in the event of an
by them, along with the gold and silver earthquake.
screen. The gold shield which covered the In 2011, some predictions suggested that
4.6-metre-high (15 ft) finial at the top of the the tomb could collapse within 5 years.
main dome was also removed during the Jat Small minarets located at two of the outly-
despoliation. ing buildings were damaged by a storm on
By the late 19th century, parts of the April 11 this year.
buildings had fallen into disrepair. During The Centre and the state need to get seri-
the time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the ous about creating a roadmap to tackle the
Taj Mahal was defaced by British soldiers monument’s deteriorating condition, with
and government officials, who chiselled particular focus on pollution. As the Su-
out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its preme Court recently put it, “Taj Mahal has
walls. to be protected. Taj is more beautiful than
In 1942, the government erected a scaf- the Eiffel Tower and could have solved the
folding to disguise the building in anticipa- country’s foreign exchange problem.”
tion of air attacks by the Japanese Air Force.
During the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

TEHELKA / 31 JULY 2018 66 WWW.TEHELKA.COM

66 The Last Word-Abdul-Column.indd 2 7/17/2018 9:02:30 PM Add.indd 9 02/05/18 4:41 PM