NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday took suo motu note of a British media report reproduced in Indian newspapers which said that the 17th century Mughal monument of love -- Taj Mahal - might collapse in the next five years and issued notices to the Union and UP governments.
A bench of Justices D K Jain and A R Dave asked the ministry of environment and forest, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Mayawati government to file affidavits responding to the news report which quoted BJP MP Ram Shankar Katheria saying that the Taj could collapse in five years.
The MP had said that the foundation of the monument, built between 1631 and 1648 on the banks of Yamuna river in Agra by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, had been damaged and the wood used in the wells had rotted.
Appearing for the ASI, advocate A D N Rao told the bench that in 2004 a similar concern was raised by advocate Ajay Agrawal relating to tilting of minarets because of lack of water in the river. Rao said the ASI had examined the entire structure before ruling out any danger to the monument.
In an affidavit, the ASI had in 2005 detailed the steps taken towards preservation of the monument. "Studies were carried out by the Survey of India, as per the request of the ASI in 2004-05, and it submitted a preliminary report confirming the stability of the monument." However, it had then promised to file a detailed report.
But, the bench of Justices Jain and Dave wanted a fresh response from the governments and the ASI and posted the matter for further hearing on November 15.
A bench of Justices D K Jain and A R Dave asked the ministry of environment and forest, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Mayawati government to file affidavits responding to the news report which quoted BJP MP Ram Shankar Katheria saying that the Taj could collapse in five years.
The MP had said that the foundation of the monument, built between 1631 and 1648 on the banks of Yamuna river in Agra by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, had been damaged and the wood used in the wells had rotted.
Appearing for the ASI, advocate A D N Rao told the bench that in 2004 a similar concern was raised by advocate Ajay Agrawal relating to tilting of minarets because of lack of water in the river. Rao said the ASI had examined the entire structure before ruling out any danger to the monument.
In an affidavit, the ASI had in 2005 detailed the steps taken towards preservation of the monument. "Studies were carried out by the Survey of India, as per the request of the ASI in 2004-05, and it submitted a preliminary report confirming the stability of the monument." However, it had then promised to file a detailed report.
But, the bench of Justices Jain and Dave wanted a fresh response from the governments and the ASI and posted the matter for further hearing on November 15.
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