New Delhi, July 11: The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down hard on the Centre over the maintenance of Taj Mahal. "Either we will shut down the Taj or you demolish or restore it," the court told Centre while hearing a petition seeking proper maintenance of the monument that figures in the Seven Wonders Of The World.

The court also said that the Taj was more beautiful than the Eiffel Tower and could have solved the country's foreign exchange problems. "Eighty million go to watch Eiffel Tower which looks like a TV Tower. Our Taj is more beautiful. If you had looked after it your foreign exchange problem would have been solved," the apex court said.

"Do you realise the loss cost to the country due to your apathy? There are so many monuments," the court added.

A bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said no concrete steps have been taken by the government, despite a parliamentary standing committee report on Taj’s protection. The Centre told the bench that Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur was assessing air pollution level in and around the mausoleum and will give its report in four months.

It said a special committee has also been set up to find the source of pollution in and around the Taj, which will suggest measures to prevent it. The bench said it will hear the matter on day-to-day basis from July 31.

With inputs from PTI

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 11, 2018 02:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).