Taj protection plan by Nov 15

New Delhi, September 25

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended till November 15 the time for the UP Government to come out with a vision document on protecting the Taj Mahal, and asked it to consider declaring a portion of the area surrounding the monument as “heritage”.

A Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta was informed by the state government that Delhi-based School of Planning and Architecture, which is preparing the vision document, has sought extension of time till November 15 to finalise it. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the state government, told the court that “in-principle” there cannot be any objection in declaring entire Agra as a heritage city but that would have several ramifications.

He said it would be difficult to declare entire Agra a heritage city but some portion of it could be brought within its ambit covering sites like Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra Fort. “If it is difficult for entire city of Agra then some area surrounding the Taj Mahal can be declared as heritage,” the Bench told Mehta.

The ASG said the state government has sought the assistance of Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology on this issue and asked it to prepare a report on it. Advocate Aishwarya Bhati told the Bench that even in Ahmedabad, the entire city was not declared as heritage. The Bench has posted the matter for hearing on November 29. — PTI