- News>
- Newspapers
Ah Taj! Are you ready for this...: Times of India
New Delhi, June 15: Imagine a shopping mall as the backdrop of the Taj Mahal instead of the picturesque Yamuna.
New Delhi, June 15: Imagine a shopping mall as the backdrop of the Taj Mahal instead of the picturesque Yamuna.
Is this an architectural nightmare? No, this could soon be the ugly reality. The UP government has started the construction of the Heritage Corridor on the banks of the Yamuna, behind the monument.
The UP government has decided to fill up the river bed behind the Taj in order to build a shopping complex, the work for which has already begun. The Central and the state government have sanctioned Rs 175 crore for the construction of the Taj Heritage Corridor, even as environmental conservationists are decrying the `scandalous` nature of the project.
The state government`s grandiose project to link Agra`s important monuments — Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Ram Bagh, Etmatuddula and Chinni-Ka-Roza — is supposed to allow tourists to visit these monuments without entering Agra. The mall is a part of that project.
The Central Pollution Control Board has sent an angry memo to the Ministry of Environment warning them of serious consequences if attempts are made to interfere with the flow of the Yamuna. "The filling up of the river bed will affect the natural flow of the river as well as the natural flood plain," warns B Sengupta, member secretary, CPCB, in a letter dated April 2.
The construction work began last November under the aegis of the National Project Construction Corporation (NPCC) without any environmental assessment of its impact on the Taj. Says M C Mehta, activist lawyer: "This is a huge scam. After all, what does a mall consist of other than restaurants, discos, cabarets? Are our historic monuments going to be put to such use?" he asks.
Nalini Thakur, HoD, Conservation, School of Planning and Architecture, concurs: "The Taj is a world heritage site and is governed by the UNESCO convention which clearly spells out the need for a proper management plan prepared by specialists. How can they start work without understanding the basics of river hydrology? The Archaeological Survey of India should have ensured that all departments accepted this plan before it was implemented."
Defending the UP government`s decision, RK Sharma, principal secretary, environment said, "The Supreme Court had directed us to remove all the shops from the front of the Taj. We were only trying to relocate them." Sengupta`s letter has also pinpointed that in case the government did decide to go ahead with their plan to build the Corridor, they should have held a nation-wide competition to allow the best known architects in the country to participate.
The UP government has simply handed the project to a Delhi-based company called Consulting Architects Planners Services. Sources within NPCC allege that CAPS has already received an advance of Rs 1.6 crore of the total Rs 4.25 crore being paid for executing this project.
The NPCC is also reported to have paid Rs 17 crore to a Delhi-based construction company Ishvakoo (India) Pvt. Ltd for removing the sand. Defending the work NPCC chairman SC Bali says, "All our drawings have been approved by IIT Roorkee." The six-member Roorkhee team have in their notings declared "the plans supplied (to them) are smudged...no monuments can be made out on them."
A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court against the construction work.
Is this an architectural nightmare? No, this could soon be the ugly reality. The UP government has started the construction of the Heritage Corridor on the banks of the Yamuna, behind the monument.
The UP government has decided to fill up the river bed behind the Taj in order to build a shopping complex, the work for which has already begun. The Central and the state government have sanctioned Rs 175 crore for the construction of the Taj Heritage Corridor, even as environmental conservationists are decrying the `scandalous` nature of the project.
The state government`s grandiose project to link Agra`s important monuments — Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Ram Bagh, Etmatuddula and Chinni-Ka-Roza — is supposed to allow tourists to visit these monuments without entering Agra. The mall is a part of that project.
The Central Pollution Control Board has sent an angry memo to the Ministry of Environment warning them of serious consequences if attempts are made to interfere with the flow of the Yamuna. "The filling up of the river bed will affect the natural flow of the river as well as the natural flood plain," warns B Sengupta, member secretary, CPCB, in a letter dated April 2.
The construction work began last November under the aegis of the National Project Construction Corporation (NPCC) without any environmental assessment of its impact on the Taj. Says M C Mehta, activist lawyer: "This is a huge scam. After all, what does a mall consist of other than restaurants, discos, cabarets? Are our historic monuments going to be put to such use?" he asks.
Nalini Thakur, HoD, Conservation, School of Planning and Architecture, concurs: "The Taj is a world heritage site and is governed by the UNESCO convention which clearly spells out the need for a proper management plan prepared by specialists. How can they start work without understanding the basics of river hydrology? The Archaeological Survey of India should have ensured that all departments accepted this plan before it was implemented."
Defending the UP government`s decision, RK Sharma, principal secretary, environment said, "The Supreme Court had directed us to remove all the shops from the front of the Taj. We were only trying to relocate them." Sengupta`s letter has also pinpointed that in case the government did decide to go ahead with their plan to build the Corridor, they should have held a nation-wide competition to allow the best known architects in the country to participate.
The UP government has simply handed the project to a Delhi-based company called Consulting Architects Planners Services. Sources within NPCC allege that CAPS has already received an advance of Rs 1.6 crore of the total Rs 4.25 crore being paid for executing this project.
The NPCC is also reported to have paid Rs 17 crore to a Delhi-based construction company Ishvakoo (India) Pvt. Ltd for removing the sand. Defending the work NPCC chairman SC Bali says, "All our drawings have been approved by IIT Roorkee." The six-member Roorkhee team have in their notings declared "the plans supplied (to them) are smudged...no monuments can be made out on them."
A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court against the construction work.