After a report saying pollution is turning the Taj Mahal yellow, authorities have taken a number of steps to cut emissions in the area. Vehicles have been banned within a half-mile radius. The report said the white marble structure is gradually turning yellow from pollution from gas powered vehicles. Authorities have also set up pollution monitoring stations around the Taj Mahal.
2. How the Ancient Monuments be preserved
Acquisition of rights in or guardianship of an ancient
monument.
Preservation of ancient monument by agreement.
Owners under disability or not in possession.
Enforcement of agreement.
Purchasers at certain sales and persons claiming through
owner bound by instrument executed by owner.
Application of endowment to repair of an ancient
monument.
Compulsory purchase of ancient monument.
Power of Central Government to control mining, etc., near
ancient monument.
Maintenance of certain protected monuments.
Voluntary contributions.
Protection of place of worship from misuse, pollution or
desecration.
Relinquishment of Government rights in a monument.
Right of access to certain protected monuments.
Penalties.
3. About Taj Mahal
The 358-year-old marble mausoleum is India’s most
famous tourist attraction, bringing four million visitors
a year to the northern city of Agra. The Taj Mahal
was built by Mogul emperor Shah Jahan, who was
grief-stricken by the death of his wife Mumtaz
Mahal in childbirth.
Its romantic image has attracted film stars and
royalty, including Princess Diana, who posed in front
of the building after the breakdown of her marriage to
Prince Charles.
4.
5. Taj Mahal
In danger: The Taj Mahal, near
Agra in India. Experts have said it
could be in danger of collapsing
within five years because its
wooden foundations are rotting
6. The Taj Mahal will collapse within five years unless
urgent action is taken to shore up its foundations,
campaigners have warned. But the river crucial to
its survival is being blighted by pollution, industry
and deforestation.
Campaigners believe the foundations have
become brittle and are disintegrating.
Cracks appeared last year in parts of the tomb,
and the four minarets which surround the
monument are showing signs of tilting.
7. Pollution has increased as trees have been cut down
to make way for new roads.
The trees also protected the city from the worst
effects of regular dust storms which now blow over
the Taj unimpeded. The Taj is built on a raised
platform on top of a hillock, which is based on wells
underneath.
The four 40ft high minarets balance the platform,
and are designed to tilt slightly outwards, to prevent
them crashing on top of the tomb in an earthquake.
8. The Indian government has set up body to deal
with the Taj Mahal's preservation.
Officials connected with eight projects say the
national and state governments are now working
together to deal with the issue. BB Awasthi,
regional officer of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution
Control Board, said: 'These projects have been
held up since 2003 for want of funds.'
He said he expected the projects 'would receive
top priority treatment'.
9. Steps taken to save Taj Mahal from
pollution
After a report saying pollution is turning the Taj Mahal
yellow, authorities have taken a number of steps to cut
emissions in the area.
Vehicles have been banned within a half-mile radius. The
report said the white marble structure is gradually
turning yellow from pollution from gas powered vehicles.
Authorities have also set up pollution monitoring stations
around the Taj Mahal.
10.
11. Ancient Monuments Preservation Act
1904
The Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904 was passed in 18, March
1904 by British India during the times of Lord Curzon. it is expedient to
The Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904
provide for the preservation of ancient monuments, for the exercise of
Territorial extent British India
control Date assented over traffic to in antiquities and over 18 March excavation 1904
in certain places, and
for the protection and acquisition in certain cases of ancient monuments
and of objects of archaeological, historical or artistic interest. Act preserves
and restores ancient Indian monuments by Archaeological Survey of
India.
12.
13.
14. The Himalayan portion of the
basin includes the south-eastern
portion of the state of
Himachal Pradesh, the entire
state of Uttarakhand, the
entire country of Nepal and
the extreme north-western
portion of the state of West
Bengal.
15. The hydrology of the Ganges River is very complicated, especially in the
Ganges Delta region. One result is different ways to determine the river's
length, itsdischarge, and the size of its drainage basin. The Ganges basin
ranges from the Himalaya and the Transhimalaya in the north, to the
northern slopes of the Vindhya range in the south, from the eastern slopes
of the Aravalli in the west to the Chota Nagpur plateau and
the Sunderbans delta in the east. A significant portion of the discharge from
the Ganges comes from the Himalayan mountain system. Within the
Himalaya, the Ganges basin spreads almost 1,200 km from the Yamuna-
Satluj divide along the Simla ridge forming the boundary with
the Indus basin in the west to the Singalila Ridge along the Nepal-Sikkim
border forming the boundary with the Brahmaputra basin in the east. This
section of the Himalaya contains 9 of the 14 highest peaks in the world over
8,000m in height, including Mount Everest which is the high point of the
Ganges basin.[35] The other peaks over 8,000m in the basin
are Kangchenjunga,[36] Lhotse,[37] Makalu,[38] Cho
Oyu,[39] Dhaulagiri,[40] Manaslu,[41] Annapurna[42] andShishapangma.[43]
17. The National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) must
take the full responsibility of the protection of our national
river. Since the Ganga flows through many states, it would be the
best if NGRBA takes the full responsibility of making and keeping
the Ganga and its tributaries completely and permanently free
from pollution through time-bound steps, leaving no scope for the
central and state government authorities blaming each other for
the failures. The Expert Members of NGRBA must be given
important role to play both at the context of decision making as
well as at the context of implementation. At present they are
almost totally neglected at both the contexts. Analogous to the
‘Prevention of Insults to National Honor Act' for the national
flag and anthem, there should be an Act for the national river
Ganga. The Ganga should be constitutionally declared as the
National River with provisions that ensure due respect to her,
considering her National River status.