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Taj and threat

WHILE IT IS a matter of relief that entertainment parks, restaurants and shopping malls will not spring up behind India's best-known monument, it remains bewildering how anyone could have even conceived of such a ludicrous scheme. It is difficult to think of a more crass and insensitive project than the misleadingly named Taj Heritage Corridor, which in reality was an excuse to construct commercial buildings on a two-km stretch directly behind the Taj Mahal and squarely on the riverbed of the Yamuna. The Rs. 175-crore project has been stalled, largely because of the intervention of the Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, Jagmohan, who made it more than clear that he will not permit the project to go ahead. The Minister's charge that the Corridor project violated a slew of laws and that action would be taken against the offenders seems to have persuaded the Uttar Pradesh Government that it is wiser to back off. By ordering the stoppage of work on the project and a probe into the issue, the Chief Minister, Mayawati, has, for all practical purposes, signalled that the Heritage Corridor project has been permanently mothballed.

It is ironic, in fact even extremely odd, that the U.P. Chief Minister should order a probe into the project and nominate her Chief Secretary to head it. Plans approving the project were reportedly sent to Agra's civic bodies from the Chief Secretary's office and although there is considerable confusion about exactly how the project was sanctioned, those at the helm of the U.P. Government could hardly have been unaware of it. The question of whether stoppage of work was ordered by Ms. Mayawati before Mr. Jagmohan's intervention or after is a matter of irrelevant political detail. The point is that the proposed heritage corridor had provoked angry responses from more than one quarter. For instance, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) lodged a complaint against the unauthorised construction. Moreover, UNESCO had warned that in the event the project affected the integrity of the Taj Mahal and its environs, then the world heritage monument may be placed on the organisation's "danger list". The threat is not an empty one. Only, a few years ago, UNESCO had placed the monuments at Hampi in this list because of encroachments and the construction of two bridges at the site. And last month, the Supreme Court had asked an independent agency to study the impact on the Taj Mahal of the large embankments made along the Yamuna.

There have been conflicting views expressed on whether the construction violates the Ancient Monuments Act and whether it falls within the area where such construction has been prohibited by a Supreme Court order. But the case against the heritage corridor goes well beyond the fact that it may be a violation of a particular statute or a particular judicial order. The entire project was pushed through without even fulfilling the basic regulations. For instance, one of the many outrageous features of the project was the absence of an environmental impact study. Given that the corridor would have altered the flow of the Yamuna, it was imperative to determine what the impact would be on the Taj site when the river is in spate or during a heavy monsoon. It is truly shocking that those who commissioned the project did not even bother to do this. As things stand, a sizeable stretch of the Yamuna's bed has been filled up with a base of sand and the construction of a five-foot embankment wall has been partially completed. It is not enough for Ms. Mayawati to have ordered stoppage of work and initiated a so-called probe into the issue. The least she must be made to do is ensure that what has been constructed is demolished and return the area to its former condition. This will be a lesson to the U.P. Government that the heritage of the Taj is best preserved by maintaining the natural beauty of its surroundings and not by appropriating riverbeds for dubious commercial projects.

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