NEW DELHI(PTI);The supreme court has warned the central government that if it failed to check air pollution endangering Taj Mahal the court would pass appropriate orders including the closure of Mathura oil refinery to save the world famous monument.
A three-judge bench of the Apex court issued a reminder to the government last week of its obligation to protect the Taj after top executives of oil and natural gas commission Indian oil corporation gas authority of India Lid and a senior official of the petroleum ministry submitted that it was not possible in the immediate future to supply compressed natural gas and set up a hydrocracker unit at the Mathura refinery to check air pollution.
The court was hearing a public interest petition which said that the marble edifice built by Mughal emperor Shahjahan for his Queen Mumtaz Mahal on the banks of the river Yamuna in Agra was losing its beauty due to industrial pollution particularly from the Mathura refinery The Hindustan Times reported
The petitioner feared that the Taj Mahal would tum black and cracks. would soon develop because of the emissions caused by the refinery and other industrial units in the region.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 18, 1994
