Petitioner M C Mehta, an environmentalist, told the bench that the green cover in the area has reduced and there were encroachments in and outside the Yamuna flood plains. Warning that there will be no “second chance” to preserve the Taj Mahal, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked authorities finalising the Vision Document for the monument’s protection to take into account the industrial and vehicular pollution in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) and water level in the Yamuna river. If the Taj Mahal goes once, you will not get a second chance,” the bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta told a conservation expert who heads the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) team which prepared a draft Vision Document. The court directed that a final Vision Document be submitted within a month. The TTZ spreads over 10,400 sq km across the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur district of Rajasthan.

The court is hearing a plea relating to protection of the 17th century monument. Petitioner M C Mehta, an environmentalist, told the bench that the green cover in the area has reduced and there were encroachments in and outside the Yamuna flood plains. Taking note, the bench said authorities will have to look into several issues to protect the Taj and sought to know about the green cover, the number of industries operating in the area and the hotels and restaurants there. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta and advocate Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, said the SPA, which was drawing up the document, was also looking at a comprehensive plan to deal with all issues.

ASG A N S Nadkarni, appearing for the Centre, said that in pursuance to the apex court’s order, proposals had been received from expert bodies like the Aga Khan Foundation, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in this regard. Nadkarni said that the Centre has told the UP government to send a proposal to declare Agra a ‘heritage city’. The state replied that it will respond to the communication in a month’s time. He referred to the apex court’s 1996 order in the case and said several industries had come up in the area, with many of them operating beyond their capacity. Mehta referred to a 1996 order of the court in the matter and said there were 511 industries in the area. Bhati added that 1,167 polluting industries existed in the area now. The court observed, “things have changed from what was told to this court in 1996. There were 511 industries then and now it is 1,167” and sought to know if “all this is being taken into consideration” while drawing up the Vision Document.