AGRA, India: Tourist Muskan Mahuwakar pictured the Taj Mahal as a dazzlingvision of symmetry and beauty but upon reaching the monument, she – likethousands of other visitors – was disappointed to find it covered inscaffolding, its once white marble now yellowing due to pollution.
Building restoration at India’s most popular tourist attraction is now intoits fourth year, with work yet to even begin on its imposing dome.
“It’s disappointing not to get a perfect frame of this immaculatestructure,” Mahuwakar, a history student, told AFP on her first visit tothe Taj, as nearby cleaners armed with colourful plastic buckets and largemops desperately tried to scrub some lustre back into the stained stone.
Other restoration teams scale the facade, blocking views to the ornateIslamic carvings engraved on its walls. The interruption to the serenity ofvisiting one of the seven modern wonders of the world.
“The repair has been going on for so long. Of course, old monuments need tobe conserved, but we must find solutions that are quick and effective,”Mahuwakar said, casting a dejected look at the scaffolding around.
Pollution and old age are taking their toll on the 17th century mausoleum,nestled on the south bank of the Yamuna river in Agra, but critics warnthat even the options authorities are using to try to fix, may beexacerbating the problem.
Mudpacks have been applied in stages to draw out stains but critics say theprocess is as damaging as bleaching the fine stone.
Authorities reject this, but admit they are concerned about how to proceedwith handling the fragile central dome.
There are fears this inevitable work risks damaging the unmistakablefeature of the Taj and will put off tourists.
“TAJ MAHAL IS DYING”
Experts warn that iron scaffolding risks leaving irrevocable scars on thefine marble. But bamboo frames are inadequate for such heights, leaving fewoptions for those charged with executing the daunting task.
“We have to clean the dome, but the challenge is how to erect thescaffolding,” Bhuvan Vikrama, the government archeologist overseeingrestoration efforts, told AFP.
“The structure is almost 400 years old, so we can’t put any extra load onit. In righting the wrong, we should not wrong the right.”
It remains unclear when work will begin or for how long the central domewill be encased in scaffolding.
Fodor’s Travel, a publisher of tourism guidebooks, has advised readers toavoid the Taj until at least 2019 lest visitors be disappointed.
The number of local tourists is also being capped to 40,000 a day in a bidto reduce wear and tear on the monument to love, which was built by Mughalemperor Shah Jahan for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birthin 1631.
Currently daily visitor numbers average 10,000 to 15,000 but can be muchhigher at weekends, going up to around 70,000. According to governmentfigures, nearly 6.5 million people – mainly from India – visited thehistoric complex in 2016.
Anyone wanting to see the main crypt, which houses marble graves inlaidwith semi-precious stones, will also have to pay for a pricier ticket.
But critics warn that restoration is only half the solution, pointing tothe industrial factories across the river that near continuously belch outnoxious fumes, leaving the air thick with smog.
This toxic haze from this and from dung and garbage burning in and aroundAgra is responsible for discolouring the Taj, experts say.
Efforts to curb these pollutants, including banning motor vehicles within500 metres of the building, have failed to clear up the air.
M C Mehta, a lawyer, said his battles in court to shift pollutingindustries – including a huge crematorium – had fallen on deaf ears.
“No one wants to take hard decisions,” Mehta told AFP.
“The Taj used to be surrounded by lush greenery, but now there is nothing.Taj is in the last stage of cancer. It is dying, it is gasping for breath.”- AFP