Taj Mahal Turns Green & Yellow! Supreme Court Slams Archaeological Body Over Carelessness

New Delhi, May 9: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday slammed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for carelessness, since the Taj Mahal has reportedly turned green and yellow due to pollution and insect dung. Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world and a beloved historical monument in India has significant value. According to news reports, a bench of justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta remarked while hearing the matter, "The problem is that archaeological body is not willing to accept that there is a problem. This situation would not have arisen if they had done their job properly." On the contrary,  ASI who is looking after the preservation and protection of the monument defended that the monument is getting dirty due to the tourists walking on the floor.

As a precautionary measure, visitors are given socks to wear before entering inside the monument, however, those who already wore socks are not provided with the same, claiming that it could be one of the reasons for carrying the dirt inside, the counsel of the archaeological body claimed.

The counsel also added the Yamuna river near the monument is the reason why the insects are breeding. During the argument, it was accepted that the algae is the main reason for turning the pristine white monument slightly greenish. But when court questioned how the algae reached on the top parts of the monument, in an astonishing answer, the counsel replied that the algae flew. Bursting into a laughter, the judges questioned sarcastically whether can algae fly?

In reply to the defence made by ASI, the advocates who represented the central government suggested that in foreign countries disposable socks are given to people visiting such monuments. Also, it took the attention of the court that government is planning to appoint international experts to look into the issue of protection and preservation of Taj Mahal, a suggestion made by the apex court earlier.

While both the judges taking the ire further exclaimed,"We don't know whether you have or perhaps don't have the expertise. Even if you have the expertise, you are not utilising it. Perhaps because you don't care!"

To recall in March, the apex court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to place before the court a draft of vision document on protection and preservation of the Taj and the environment in the Taj Trapezium Zone, which is an area of about 10,400 sq km spread over the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur in Rajasthan. While every day, several tourists from different parts of the country along with foreign country visit the place to get the glimpse of the monument- 'the symbol of love'.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 09, 2018 03:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).