Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Students help clean up the Yamuna River, a source of pollution said to be damaging the Taj Mahal

India's Supreme Court has instructed the government to seek foreign help to fix what it described as a worrying change in colour at the Taj Mahal.

"Even if you have the expertise, you are not utilising it. Or perhaps you don't care," court justices said.

The court said the famous tomb, built in the 17th Century from white marble and other materials, had turned yellow and was now turning brown and green.

Pollution, construction and insect dung are said to be among the causes.

Justices Madan Lokur and Deepak Gupta examined photographs of the mausoleum submitted by environmentalists and ordered the government to seek expertise from inside India and abroad.

The government has previously shuttered thousands of factories near the Taj Mahal, but activists say its marble is still losing its lustre.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Pollution and insects are among the factors to blame

Sewage in the Yamuna River, alongside the palace, attracts insects which excrete waste onto the palace's walls, staining them.

The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the city of Agra and is now one of the world's leading tourist attractions, drawing as many as 70,000 people every day.

Image copyright Archaeological Survey of India Image caption Insect faeces are leaving green patches on the marble

The dirt problem is not a new one - several times over the past two decades or so the palace's white marble has been coated in a mud pack in an attempt to clean it - but there are fears the problem is worsening.

Its most recent mud bath began in January. Scaling the walls on scaffolds, workers plaster the surfaces with Fuller's earth, a mud paste that absorbs dirt, grease, and animal excrement.

Think of a giant face mask, but for a palace.

The mud is then washed off, taking the dirt with it. The current cleanup operation is expected to last until late this year.

Another Supreme Court hearing has been set for 9 May.</s>New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed concern over the change of colour of the iconic Taj Mahal at Agra and said the monument had become yellowish earlier and was now turning brownish and greenish.

"Perhaps we need some expert organisation from outside India unless there is a decision that the Taj has to go," the bench said sarcastically, adding, "you can get experts from India as well as from outside."

The apex court perused the photographs placed before it by petitioner M C Mehta and asked Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni, who was representing the government, as to why the colour of Taj Mahal has changed.

"First it was yellow and now it is becoming brown and green," the bench observed.

Nadkarni told the bench that the management of Taj Mahal has to be done by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The apex court fixed the matter for further hearing on May 9.

Environmentalist Mehta has filed the plea seeking protection of the Taj from the ill-effects of polluting gases and deforestation in and around the area.

The top court has been monitoring developments in the area to protect the historic monument, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal in 1631. The mausoleum is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.</s>NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today expressed concern over the change of colour of the iconic Taj Mahal at Agra and said the monument had become yellowish earlier and was now turning brownish and greenish.

The apex court suggested that the Centre take the assistance of experts from India and abroad to first assess the damage and then take steps to restore the historic monument.

"We don't know whether you have or perhaps don't have the expertise. Even if you have the expertise, you are not utilising it. Or perhaps you don't care," a bench comprising Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said.

"Perhaps we need some expert organisation from outside India unless there is a decision that the Taj has to go," the bench said sarcastically, adding, "you can get experts from India as well as from outside."

The apex court perused the photographs placed before it by petitioner M C Mehta and asked Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni, who was representing the government, as to why the colour of Taj Mahal has changed.

"First it was yellow and now it is becoming brown and green," the bench observed.

Nadkarni told the bench that the management of Taj Mahal has to be done by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The apex court fixed the matter for further hearing on May 9.

Environmentalist Mehta has filed the plea seeking protection of the Taj from the ill-effects of polluting gases and deforestation in and around the area.

The top court has been monitoring developments in the area to protect the historic monument, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal in 1631.</s>Top court says money should not be any consideration to ensure heritage site is protected

India’s top court on Tuesday sharply criticized the government for failing to protect the Taj Mahal, the centuries-old monument to love that has been changing color because of pollution.

The brilliant marble of the Taj Mahal—a UNESCO world heritage site—has acquired a yellow tinge over the years.

The color of the marble “was first becoming yellow. Now it seems to be green and black,” a Supreme Court bench said after reviewing recent photos of the monument.

The Taj Mahal has been slowly yellowing because of smog in the region. Insects also leave green stains on its rear wall, which faces the heavily polluted Yamuna River. Various methods—including using mudpacks to draw the stain from the marble—have been employed since conservationists first raised alarm about the decay.

Authorities also announced plans earlier this year to limit the number of visitors to reduce wear and tear. But that seems to have done little to stop the decay.

“It appears that you do not have expertise or you have [it] but do not want to utilize it, or you do not care about [the Taj Mahal],” the court said. “You all appear helpless. Money should not be the consideration…. We need to save it.”

Supreme Court justices M.B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and the government of Uttar Pradesh state a week to respond.

This is not the first time the Supreme Court has criticized Indian authorities on the issue. In February, it warned that the state government’s “ad hoc” approach was jeopardizing the monument.

The Taj Mahal was built in the 17th century by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth in 1631. It has attracted some of the most famous people in the world, and is often a stop for world leaders on state visits to India. Diana, the late British princess, was famously photographed alone on a marble seat there in 1992.</s>The Supreme Court today expressed concern over the changing colour of the iconic Taj Mahal apparently due to pollution and rapped the government saying “perhaps you don’t care” and directing it to take urgent steps to restore the pristine glory of the ancient monument at Agra.

Observing that the monument had earlier turned yellow and was now going brownish and greenish in colour, the apex court pulled up the authorities for not taking appropriate steps to preserve and protect the Taj.

It asked the Centre to take the assistance of experts from India and abroad to first assess the damage and then take steps to restore the 17th century white marble mausoleum.

While perusing the recent pictures of the Taj Mahal, a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta observed, “this is now becoming the eighth wonder of the world”.

“First it was yellow and now it is becoming brown and green,” the bench commented and asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) ANS Nadkarni, who was representing the government, as to why the colour has changed.

 Nadkarni told the bench that management of Taj Mahal has to be done by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

However, petitioner and environmentalist M C Mehta, who placed before the bench the recent pictures of Taj, said the authorities have not complied with the directions passed by the apex court due to which the condition of the monument has become “horrible”.

He said that besides change in its colour, there were patches on the marbles and recently a minaret had also fell down.

To this, the bench told the authorities, “We do not know whether you have or perhaps do not have the expertise. Even if you have the expertise, you are not utilising it. Or perhaps you do not care”.

“Perhaps we need some expert organisation from outside India unless there is a decision that the Taj has to go,” the bench said, adding, “you can get experts from India as well as from outside.”

The bench observed that heads of countries and several dignitaries, including the Canadian Prime Minister, visiting India have gone to see the Taj and the court assumes that the authorities would want to preserve the monument.

“It seems you are helpless. Please think about it. Money is not a problem,” the bench said, adding, “this requires some expertise, that is first to assess the damage and then how to restore it”.

Nadkarni told the bench that there were expert bodies in the country like Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), which has worked to preserve an ancient fort in Goa.

But the court said, “the photographs (of Taj) indicates that there is a lack of will”.

“You think about getting the experts from within the country or outside the country,” it said and posted the matter for hearing on May 9.

The bench also asked Nadkarni and ASG Tushar Mehta, “when was the last time you visited the Taj”.

When they both responded “more than a decade ago”, the bench said, “you better go there and see”.

During the hearing, Mehta told the bench that Taj Mahal was in “shambles”, Yamuna water in Agra has finished, the apex court orders being flouted, encroachments and even industries have come up there.

He also raked up the issue of security in Taj Mahal and said that CCTV cameras were not working and alleged that the “Government of India and the state government was not doing anything except making money from the monument”.

ASG Mehta, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, said the state could assure the court that steps to protect and preserve the monument would be accelerated.

Meanwhile, an advocate appearing in the matter referred to a report of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and said though the emission of sulphur dioxide had come down, but industries were operating from the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), which was affecting the monument.

The bench also dealt with the application seeking to lay down pipelines for water supply in Agra for which some trees have to be cut down and said it would take up the matter on May 9.

The petitioner told the bench that ground water level in Agra has depleted and water of Yamuna river was not fit for any purpose.

The bench, while hearing another matter pertaining to pollution from buses operating to Rajasthan from Bikaner House near the India Gate here in which the issue of environment impact assessment cropped up, observed that, “Shah Jahan did not have any environment impact assessment when the Taj Mahal was built”.

In March this year, the apex court had asked Uttar Pradesh government to place before it a draft of vision document on protection and preservation of the Taj and the environment in the TTZ, which is an area of about 10,400 sq km spread over the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur in Rajasthan.

The top court has been monitoring developments in the area to protect the monument, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal in 1631. The mausoleum is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.</s>India's Supreme Court has instructed the government to seek foreign help to fix what it described as a worrying change in colour at the Taj Mahal.

"Even if you have the expertise, you are not utilising it. Or perhaps you don't care," court justices said.

The court said the famous palace, built in the 17th Century from white marble and other materials, had turned yellow and was now turning brown and green.

Pollution, construction and insect poo are said to be among the causes.

Justices Madan Lokur and Deepak Gupta examined photographs of the palace submitted by environmentalists and ordered the government to seek expertise from inside India and abroad.

The government has previously shuttered thousands of factories near the Taj Mahal, but activists say it is still losing its lustre.

Sewage in the Yamuna River, alongside the palace, attracts insects which excrete waste onto the palace's walls, staining them.

The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the city of Agra and is now one of the world's leading tourist attractions, drawing as many as 70,000 people every day.

The dirt problem is not a new one - several times over the past two decades or so the palace's white marble has been coated in a mud pack in an attempt to clean it - but there are fears the problem is worsening.

Its most recent mud bath began in January. Scaling the walls on scaffolds, workers plaster the surfaces with Fuller's earth, a mud paste that absorbs dirt, grease, and animal excrement.

Think of a giant face mask, but for a palace.

The mud is then washed off, taking the dirt with it. The current cleanup operation is expected to last until late this year.

Another Supreme Court hearing has been set for 9 May.</s>The brilliant marble of the Taj Mahal -- a UNESCO world heritage site -- has acquired a yellow tinge over the years.

The colour of the marble "was first becoming yellow. Now it seems to be green and black," a Supreme Court bench said after reviewing recent photos of the monument.

The Taj Mahal has been slowly yellowing because of smog in the region. Insects also leave green stains on its rear wall, which faces the heavily-polluted Yamuna River.

Various methods -- including using mudpacks to draw the stain from the marble -- have been employed since conservationists first raised alarm about the decay.Authorities also announced plans earlier this year to limit the number of visitors to reduce wear and tear.But that seems to have done little to stop the decay.

This is not the first time the Supreme Court has criticised Indian authorities on the issue. In February, it warned that the state government's "ad hoc" approach was jeopardising the monument.

The Taj Mahal was built in the 17th century by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth in 1631.</s>The Supreme Court has expressed concern over the change in colour of the Taj Mahal</s>After an awful shade of yellow, the Taj Mahal—India’s shining monument of love and winner of the New 7 Wonders of World initiative—is now turning brown and green.

Responding to photographs of the Taj Mahal submitted by petitioner MC Mehta, a bench comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and MB Lokur reprimanded the Centre for its laxness. “We are concerned at the change of the colour of the Taj Mahal. We don’t know whether you have or perhaps don’t have the expertise. Even if you have the expertise, you are not utilising it. Or perhaps you don’t care.”

Environmentalist MC Mehta has claimed that harmful pollutants in the air and deforestation in the area are fuelling the damage caused to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which attracts millions of tourists to Agra every year. Last December, the bench asked the government for a broad and inclusive document with a futuristic vision to protect the Taj. In response to the Supreme Court’s comments, the government said that the Archaeological Survey of India is assessing measures for the monument’s protection.

Interestingly, the Taj Mahal is one of almost 100 of India’s heritage sites up for adoption under the government’s Adopt a Heritage programme rolled out last year.</s>Photographs from January 2018 show small brown and green spots on the marble facade of the mausoleum built by the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan for his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The court questioned the government's administration of the landmark. "We don't know whether you have or perhaps don't have the expertise. Even if you have the expertise, you are not utilizing it. Or perhaps you don't care," said the judges of the bench, according to local media. They further suggested the state government look to getting foreign expertise to manage the site.

In a case that has worked through the court for more than three decades, lawyer MC Mehta argued that air pollution from surrounding industries has corroded the Taj's white marble walls and other historical monuments nearby. In 1996, he won when the court ruled that many of the industries surrounding the monument must be relocated.

But it was an empty victory, as Mehta has had to continue to argue the case in the past two decades to ensure that the judgment is carried out.

"Yellow pallor pervades the entire monument. In places the yellow hue is magnified by ugly brown and black spots. Fungal deterioration is worst in the inner chamber where the original graves of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal lie," said the petitioner. In recent years, the Taj Mahal has suffered at the hands of insects that breed in the swampy waters of the Yamuna River, which flows behind the monument. The river has become highly polluted in recent decades. Indian media reports say that the insects leave behind a green residue, perhaps their excreta, which must be treated annually. The organization overseeing the Taj Mahal implemented a three-hour time limit in March on all visitors to prevent overcrowding. The Taj Mahal, located in India's biggest state of Uttar Pradesh, has been derided by some of the state government's leaders, including the chief minister, who said the UNESCO heritage site did not represent Indian culture.
The Supreme Court of India orders the government to seek international help after examining photos submitted by environmentalists showing a change in colour of the Taj Mahal.