Disposing off a writ petition by an eminent eco-activist lawyer, M C. Mehta, the Supreme Court of India had decreed far reaching infrastructural changes in and around Agra on 31 December 1996 in an effort to curb pollution and particularly to arrest the gradual discoloration of the gleaming white marble surface of Taj Mahal.

The petitioner had earlier alleged that the city based iron foundries, other industries and brick kilns located around Agra city and vehicular traffic were all responsible for the increasing pollution in the city. Apart from these local ones, Mehta had further claimed that other major pollutants were the Mathura refinery and the Firozabad based glass and bangle industries.

He had further submitted that the sulphur dioxide fumes, which were being emitted by the Mathura Refinery and industries located in Firozabad and Agra, combine with atmospheric moisture to produce sulphuric acid, which ultimately causes ‘acid rain’. This rain gradually corrodes the gleaming white surface of Taj Marble over a period of time resulting into its discoloration. Moreover, because of highly erratic power supply in the city, thousands of diesel generators spew out venomous fumes day and night to add to the misery.

After taking into account all reports from various government agencies, the Supreme Court felt that the local industries based in the Taj Trapezium region were the main culprits and ordered all 292 industries to switch over to Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) supplied Natural Gas, instead of coal/coke for their fuel needs, within the next two months, failing which they ought either to relocate to industrial estates outside Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), or to close shop immediately. Incidentally, the TTZ is a defined area of 10,400 sq kms around the Taj Mahal, which includes over 40 protected monuments together with three World Heritage Sites, viz., the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. It has been named as such as it is sited around Taj Mahal and formed like a trapezoid.

As a direct outcome, 187 of the 292 units, employing hundreds of labor each, were summarily closed causing widespread misery and unemployment, while 53 units switched over to electricity, 42 units adopted natural gas, while 3 units restructured their units so as not to use any fuel at all. In short, out of the above named 292 units, not a single unit is now using coal/coke as their fuel.

Now, after 20 years and billions of rupees down the drain for various ecological improvement projects, the overall situation continues to be grim, with pock marked roads, mounds of garbage strewn all over, and Taj Mahal still turning yellow.

The local residents lament that their taps are running dry, power supply continues to play hide-and-seek, the sewage system is dysfunctional, trees have been ruthlessly chopped, the traditional ponds have vanished, while the Yamuna is nothing but slimy muck. The laboratories maintained by ASI suggest that the incidence of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the local air is four times of the prescribed safe level of 100. This is not much of a surprise taking into view the drying up of the riverbed, expanding Thar Desert and increasing incidence of Aravali mining. On the other hand, the drying river induces use of greater amount of chemicals and gases to treat the sewage that is Yamuna, to make it potable, but even that is increasingly getting scarce.

The Taj Trapezium Industries Action Committee representatives lament that the local industries were made the scapegoat while no action has been taken in case of Mathura Refinery, which is actually the heaviest polluter.

In this scenario, local activists feel that the Taj is fast losing out the battle against pollution, while the apex court is being led down the garden path by the agile bureaucracy.

Now, this is everyone responsibility that we participate in growth of making Taj Mahal pollution free so that traveller's visit to Taj Mahal could be enjoyable.