In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal Empire's period of greatest prosperity, was griefstricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death.The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later.

Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:

Should guilty seek asylum here,Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,All his past sins are to be washed away.The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.In this world this edifice has been made;To display thereby the creator's glory.

The Taj Mahal was built on a parcel of land to the south of the walled city of Agra. Shah Jahan presented Maharajah Jai Singh with a large palace in the center of Agra in exchange for the land. An area of roughly three acres was excavated, filled with dirt to reduce seepage, and leveled at 50 meters above riverbank. In the tomb area, wells were dug and filled with stone and rubble to form the footings of the tomb. Instead of lashed bamboo, workmen constructed a colossal brick scaffold that mirrored the tomb.

The total cost has been estimated to be about 32 million Rupees at that time.

In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.

Marble - Rajasthan

Jasper - punjab Jade -

china Torquise -

tibet

Mark Twain once remarked “the world is divided between two types of people: those who have seen the Taj Mahal and those who have not.”

The Taj is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world and the image most associated with India. It is indeed the Taj of all Indian monuments. One of the famous stories about its grandeur goes as once a British couple visited Taj , seeing its unparallel beauty the wife said “if you promise to build a taj in my memory I am ready to die now .“

“Pollution has managed to do what 350 years of wars, invasions and natural disasters have failed to do. It has begun to mar the magnificent walls of the Taj Mahal,” declared U.S. President Bill Clinton during his visit to the taj

On repeated occasions, sulphur dioxide emissions from industries have reached levels ten times above the prescribed standard level. Combined with oxygen and moisture, sulphur dioxide settles on the surface of the tomb and corrodes the marble, forming a fungus that experts refer to as “marble cancer”.

Blaming pollution and regulatory negligence for the Taj’s decay, Mahesh Chandra Mehta, a prominent environmental lawyer, filed a case before the Supreme Court of India in 1984.

In August 1999, the Supreme Court struck ordering the closure of 53 iron foundries and 107 other factories in Agra that had not cleaned up their act. The order has become a call to arms for foundry owners, workers, trade union representatives and small-scale industry.

In the meantime, Agra’s Iron Founders’Association are building up their case. They argue that 3,000 cottage and engineering units depend on the foundries, and that about 300,000 workers are directly or indirectly employed by them. They hold that the technology for using natural gas in their industries is not yet ready. Mehta claims that this is a “delaying tactic

PLIGHT OF WORKER’S AGRA

Although union leaders are firmly opposed to any relocation or factory closures, the battle has brought other concerns to the fore. According to a leader from the Centre for Indian Trade Unions, the entire foundry industry is highly exploitative and the working conditions hazardous. The majority of workers are employed on a contract basis despite having worked for long periods in the foundries–which means they would receive no protection if factories were to close.

The Hon'ble Supreme Court after examining all the reports were the active contributors to the air pollution in the said area.

All the 292 industries were to approach/apply to the GAIL before 15.2.1997 for grant of industrial gas-connection.

The industries which were not in a position to obtain gas-connections, to approach UPSIDC before 28.2.1997, for allotment of alternative plots in the industrial estates outside

Those industries, which neither applied for gas-connection nor for alternate industrial plots should stop functioning using coke/coal as fuel in the TTZ w.e.f. 30.4.1997. The supply of coke/coal to these industries shall be stopped forthwith

ALL INDIAN MONUMENTS ARE NOT AS LUCKY AS TAJ TO HAVE SAVIOUR LIKE AD. MEHTA AND MANAGE TO SURVIVE SUFFOCATING IN POLLUTION , IGNORANCE OF CITIZENS AND INEFFICIENCY OF JUDICIARY.