Spectacular Taj surviving man, nature

By Padmini Iyer

Surviving pollution from man and erosion of nature for 350 years now, Taj Mahal stands as the epitome of the virtues and vanities of a lost culture.

In hot summer afternoons, furious dust storms sweeping the dusty Yamuna riverbed blast the pristine white marble dome, cutting into the intricate calligraphy on the cupolas. Often swirling winds envelop the monument in a cloud of dust. The storms blow in from the Aravalli hills in neighboring Rajasthan, where the once rich green belt has depleted to nothing, raising temperatures and leaving the Taj unprotected. And that's not all that ails the world's greatest tribute to love, which draws 2.2 million tourists every year, more than the population of Agra, a bustling, part chaotic town of 1.5 million.

    An ill-fated project to build a mall and swank eateries-filled corridor between Delhi's Red Fort and the Taj was banned a few months ago by the Supreme Court, which cited gross violations of environmental laws. The half-built corridors, with its debris of concrete, continue to clutter the riverbed threatening to erode the very base of the monument built by Shah Jahan.

    When work began on the corridor, the plan included construction of a mall, eateries and even an amusement park. For six months, hundreds of tones of tractors and earth-diggers scooped silt off the riverbed and piled the banks. More than 80 acres of the riverbed was raised with sand and layers of boulders at a cost of Rs.250 million. 

Now, cleaning the mess would cost at least Rs.200 million and neither the Archaeological Survey of India nor the present Samajwadi Party government seems interested. Even around the monument, the infrastructure is in a shambles with aggressive vendors and a city support system bursting at its seams. 

But, the magic of the Taj is such that it rises above the adjoining junk. Framed in the mammoth gateway, set against the river and the sky, it is a magnificent example of art and architecture. 

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