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Off colour - Pollution turns India's white marble Taj Mahal green

By Sunil Kataria

 

Garbage is seen on the polluted banks of the river Yamuna near the historic Taj Mahal in Agra, India, May 20, 2018. REUTERS/Saumya Khandelwal

 

AGRA, India (Reuters) - India's white-marble Taj Mahal is turning yellow and green as the 17th century mausoleum weathers filthy air in the world's eighth-most polluted city.

 

One of the seven Wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal flanks a garbage-strewn river and is often enveloped by dust and smog from belching smokestacks and vehicles in the northern city of Agra.

 

Tiny insects from the drying Yamuna River into which the city pours its sewage crawl into the Taj Mahal, their excrement further staining the marble, an environmental lawyer told India's Supreme Court.

 

The court slammed the government for not doing enough to preserve the monument, which was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

 

"If the Indian scientists and the (conservationists) can't do the things, they should be able to contact foreign experts or conservationists, those who can come and they will be readily happy to help," said lawyer M.C. Mehta, who has been fighting to save the Taj Mahal from pollution for three decades.

 

Restorers have been using a paste of a clay mineral to clean the marble. It pulls away impurities from the surface and can then be washed off with water.

 

Activists are also concerned that the falling water table in Agra may be weakening the wooden foundations. Other worries include roads clogged with polluting vehicles and rampant construction around the mausoleum.

 

Behind Taj's back, plastic bags and garbage pile up by the river as smoke billows from a chimney in the distance. Outside the Taj complex, a group of people gathered near a funeral pyre.

 

The change in colour has not come out of the blue. Environmentalists and historians have long warned about the risk of soot and fumes from factories and tanneries dulling the ivory monument.

 

Tourists visiting the monument said they hoped steps will be taken to preserve it.

 

"I think the Taj Mahal is one of the biggest icons of India and I think the city would be better to be cleaner and for the government to do something about this," said Francesco, a tourist from Argentina. "Because it is a shame, you know. Yeah!"

 

(Reporting by Sunil Kataria; Additional reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Nick Macfie)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-22

[thaibeachlovers]

Welcome to the brave new world of rampant overpopulation, uncontrolled environmental destruction and GREED, GREED, GREED.

[The Renegade]

4 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Welcome to the brave new world of rampant overpopulation, uncontrolled environmental destruction and GREED, GREED, GREED.

Nah

 

It's the UK's fault for giving them Independence in 1947

[Anak Nakal]

Use to make money, now sick.

Green/yellow is ugly.

[CharlesSwann]

Non-news. They clean it every few years. First time I went there 20 years ago, it really was yellow. Late last year, they'd just finished cleaning it and it was white. The green, btw, comes from insect dung, not from pollution.

 

Having said that, Agra really is a literal s***hole, far worse than other Indian cities on the tourist circuit. People living in roadside shanties right in the centre of town. They need a better mayor.

[Cereal]

I would like to see the Taj Mahal someday but never will. My desire to never set foot in that filthy stinking cesspool of a country runs so deep I turned down an all expenses trip from my school in Laos twice. There's an international educational symposium very close to Agra every year. My school asked me to represent it along with 4 of our best grade 12 students. No thanks.

[Enoon]

 

A traveller to India said to me, 40 years ago:

 

"India, once smelled never forgotten"

 

When I repeated that to an India traveller of 4 months ago they replied:

 

"Tell them it hasn't changed".

 

 

[roquefort]

"I think the Taj Mahal is one of the biggest icons of India and I think the city would be better to be cleaner and for the government to do something about this," said Francesco, a tourist from Argentina. "Because it is a shame, you know. Yeah!"

 

I'm really glad I read this enlightening comment. Is that the best Reuters can do these days?

Edited May 22, 2018 by roquefort

[shaurene]

1991-1997 I used to go from New Zealand 3-4 times a year to Agra buying shoes. I went to the Tagmahal many times. It was green then. Such a dirty smelly city. 

[Morch]

7 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

A traveller to India said to me, 40 years ago:

 

"India, once smelled never forgotten"

 

When I repeated that to an India traveller of 4 months ago they replied:

 

"Tell them it hasn't changed".

 

 

 

 

Spent quite a while in India, and yes....Agra is certainly not one of the best spots, which is a pity. Then again, there always the mountains.