Court Acts to Protect Taj Mahal From Toxics
India’s Supreme Court has ordered the closure of scores of factories near the Taj Mahal to protect the 17th-Century white marble mausoleum from industrial pollution.
The court ruled Friday that a total of 212 factories should shut down in the town of Agra, near New Delhi, nine years after lawyer Mahesh Chander Mehta petitioned it to help save the Mogul monument from toxic industrial emissions.
The Taj Mahal, built by Mogul emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved queen, Mumtaz Mahal, along the banks of the Yamuna River, draws some 1.5 million tourists each year.
Mehta said the factories, believed to be mostly small foundries, had failed to respond to the court’s reminders to set up anti-pollution safeguards.
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