SC seeks heritage city tag for Agra

Apex court cites Ahmedabad as example to save Taj

The Supreme Court suggested on Tuesday that Agra be designated a heritage city to protect the Taj Mahal, citing the example of Ahmedabad, and urged experts preparing a vision document on the 17th century Mughal monument to take into account industries running in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) and the impact of pollution.

“If Taj Mahal goes once, you will not get a second chance,” justice MB Lokur told conservation expert Meenakshi Dhote of the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA). Dhote heads the SPA team that prepared a draft vision document to preserve Taj Mahal at the behest of the Uttar Pradesh government.

The judge told Dhote that she must proceed with confidence on the final vision document and could approach the court for any assistance if she felt she was not receiving sufficient help from government officials. A final vision document should be given to the court within a month, the bench said.

Additional advocate general (AAG) for Uttar Pradesh Aishwarya Bhatti said the state needed two months to place a proposal before the Centre, which has recently written to the state government on the Taj Mahal. Justice Deepak Gupta ,who was also a part of the bench hearing the case, along with Justice SA Nazeer, found it surprising that the Uttar Pradesh government had so long to submit a proposal to the Centre to secure a heritage city tag for Agra.

“Ahmedabad was recently declared a heritage city, then what is the problem in Agra getting the tag?. Ahmedabad is also a modern city, with modern amenities,” said Justice Gupta.

Additional solicitor general AS Nadkarni informed the bench that Centre had written to UP government three days back and was yet to receive a response on the matter. Bhatti said the plan would be prepared in consultation with the Centre.

“We have been told that no modern activity can take place once a city gets a heritage tag,” Bhatti said. But, the court asked UP government to submit the proposal before the next date of hearing, which is September 25.

Ahmedabad last year became the first Indian city to get the world heritage city status, joining cities such as Paris, Vienna, Rome, Edinburgh and Brussels, entailing special measures for the protection and conservation of its heritage structures.

Dhote was asked to address the court on the vision document. She informed the bench that the team entrusted with the task was taking into account larger perspective such as pollution and green cover to prepare the document. When asked whether the government had give her the figures on the number of industries in the TTZ, an area of 10,400 square metres around the Taj, Dhote said the data her team received turned out to be incorrect.