SC questions UP on illegal constructions around Taj

The UP govt has been asked by the Supreme Court to respond within three weeks on the allegations of illegal constructions in and around the Taj Mahal's protected area and on the Yamuna bed. A three-judge bench of Justices S B Sinha, S H Kapadia and D K Jain sought the response on a report filed by the apex court-appointed monitoring committee which had blamed the Agra Development Authority (ADA) and the government for its failure to check illegal constructions in the area and saving the depleting green cover. The committee headed by Krishan Mahajan, an advocate who has been appointed amicus curiae (friend of court), has stated that the ADA and the State government does not have any data with regard to the benchmark for permitting construction activities in the protected area. According to Mahajan, scores of housing societies have constructed their apartments on the river bed without providing any basic facilities like sewerage. In the process, he said, the entire sewer is being diverted to the river. "The constructions are going at a frenetic pace and every conceivable heavy machinery is being used for the purpose," Mahajan said, pointing out that not only the river is being polluted but even the protected area is facing a threat from constructions. The monitoring committee further stated that the green cover around the Taj has been drastically depleting as the State instead of protecting the green belt had embarked upon an ambitious project for development of Agra under the 2021 Master Plan. According to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) no constructions activity is permissible in the area, lest it disturbs the heritage. The apex court had appointed the monitoring committee a decade ago and since then it has been monitoring various issues relating to the environmental hazards posed to the structure and the Yamuna.

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