The Draft Vision Document on Taj Mahal found no takers in the Supreme Court as the Bench pursuing the cause of saving the only Indian entry in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites found to its shock that the mammoth exercise undertaken by the Uttar Pradesh Government did not involve one of the key players in the upkeep of the Taj — the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Directing a copy of the Vision Document to be supplied to the ASI, the Bench of Justices Madan B lokur and Deepak Gupta asked the authority to respond on the report within a month and propose immediate steps required to preserve the ancient monument. The court asked the ASI to involve private agencies such as INTACH, ICOMOS, and Aga Khan Foundation to know their views in this regard before the matter is heard next on August 28.
Reading the Vision Document prepared by the Tourism Department of the UP Government, the court was confused as every time it took up the matter related to Taj Mahal or the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), an affidavit was filed either by the ASI, or Ministry of Environment, or Ministry of Home Affairs or the State Government. “Somebody has to take responsibility for preserving the Taj Mahal,” said the Bench, as it directed Attorney General KK Venugopal who appeared for the Centre and the UP Government to state by Monday the names of the concerned authority/person both at the Centre and the State level to be held responsible for taking decisions with regard to TTZ development and Agra development as envisaged in the Vision Document. For the monument, the ASI owned up responsibility.
As several steps listed in the Vision Document related to preparation of Master Plan and regional plan for Agra and the seven districts falling within TTZ (spanning over 10400 square kilometer around Taj) that could take several months, the Bench asked the A-G what steps were intended for the present.
Venugopal told the court that a lot of efforts had gone into preparation of the Vision Document and a sum of Rs 28 lakh was spent by engaging the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi to conduct field study and recommend proposals. He said that short-term measures required a minimum of one year and this is a realistic target set to achieve desired results.
The court pointed out to the 1,167 polluting units in the TTZ which are still categorised as “air polluting industries” and wondered what good had come despite constituting the TTZ authority 20 years ago. “The TTZ is a flop as per your Vision Document,” said the Bench. The TTZ Commissioner who was present in the court confessed that the authority was severely short of manpower to which the Bench replied, “Are we to now initiate a recruitment drive.” The court even pulled up the Agra District Collector present in the court for failing to act against illegal, polluting industries situated close to Taj.
Finding that nothing was in place to implement the grand designs proposed by the Vision Document, the Bench asked the A-G whether there is a Heritage Management Plan in place considering the fact that Taj is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its office is at Paris and all countries have to submit this plan annually. “Suppose, and we pray it should never happen, that if UNESCO says we are withdrawing the World Heritage Site tag from Taj Mahal because we are not filing the Heritage Management Plan. This involves not just Taj but the area around it too.” The court directed the A-G to produce this plan by Monday.