The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to make its Taj Mahal vision plan public, PTI reported. “There is nothing secret about it,” a bench led by Justice Madan B Lokur said.
In September, the top court had granted the Adityanath government until November 15 to submit the document detailing the plan for the protection of the monument. The plan is being prepared by the Delhi School of Planning and Architecture.
The court was responding to the institute’s statement that it will submit the document to the state government as soon as it is completed in the next few days, PTI reported.
Meanwhile, Additional Solicitor General ANS Nadkarni, representing the Centre, told the bench that the first draft of the Heritage Plan for the Taj Mahal will be finalised in eight weeks. The document will be submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The monument is a UNESCO world heritage site.
On July 11, the Supreme Court had pulled up the Centre and state government for not acting fast to protect the monument. “Either we will shut down Taj Mahal or you demolish or restore it,” the court had said. Five days later, the Centre set up a committee to address the matter of industrial pollution affecting the monument.
On July 24, the Adityanath government filed the first draft of its vision document. It said the entire Taj Mahal precinct should be declared a no-plastic zone and all polluting industries in the region should be closed.
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