Nothing secret about vision document on Taj Mahal, Supreme Court tells UP govt

The Supreme Court told the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday that the vision document on the Taj Mahal, being prepared by the Delhi School of Planning and Architecture, should be made public.

"There is nothing secret about it," a bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said. 

The Delhi School of Planning and Architecture told the court that it is in the process of preparing a vision document for the protection and the preservation of the Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh's Agra town and will complete it in a few days. 

It said the document would be submitted to the state government. 

Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that the first draft of the Heritage Plan for Taj Mahal, which is to be submitted to the UNESCO, will be finalised within eight weeks.

In an earlier observation, the Supreme COurt had said there will be no “second chance” to preserve the Taj Mahal. It had asked the authorities to take a larger perspective on issues of pollution and green cover to prepare a vision document on protecting the monument.

The bench had said the authorities would have to look into several issues to protect the Taj Mahal and had sought to know about the green cover, the number of industries operating in the area and the hotels and restaurants there. 

Besides looking into issue of protection of Taj Mahal, they were also considering a larger comprehensive plan to deal with all these issues.

The bench, which has been monitoring development in the TTZ area to protect the Taj Mahal had asked the petitioner to give his suggestions to the expert body.

The top court had earlier slammed the Centre, Uttar Pradesh government and TTZ authority for their failure to restore the pristine glory of Taj Mahal.