Taj protection: SC gives UP time till Nov 15 for vision document

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended till November 15 the time for Uttar Pradesh government to come out with a vision document on protecting the Taj Mahal, and asked it to consider declaring a portion of the area surrounding the monument as 'heritage'.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta was informed by the state government that Delhi-based School of Planning and Architecture, which is preparing the vision document, has sought for extension of time till November 15 to finalise it.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the state government, told the court that "in-principle" there cannot be any objection in declaring entire Agra as a heritage city but that would have several ramifications.

He said it would be difficult to declare entire Agra a heritage city but some portion of it could be brought within its ambit covering sites like Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra Fort.

"If it is difficult for entire city of Agra then some area surrounding the Taj Mahal can be declared as heritage," the bench told Mehta.

The ASG said the state government has sought the assistance of Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology on this issue and asked it to prepare a report on it.

Advocate Aishwarya Bhati, who was also representing the state, told the bench that even in Ahmedabad, the entire city was not declared as heritage.

She said an area of around 5.5 km in Ahmedabad was declared as heritage.

Besides seeking extension of time for the vision document, Bhati told the bench that School of Planning and Architecture has asked for three additional experts from the field of water resources, air pollution and a hydrologist to prepare the paper.

She suggested the names of institutes from where these experts could be called to assist the school in the work.

The bench allowed the request and asked the person in-charge of these three institutes to appoint an expert to assist in the process of preparing vision document.

The ASG said that a communication will be sent to the Ahmedabad-based institute so that a final decision on declaring portion of Agra city as heritage could be taken soon.

The bench has posted the matter for hearing on November 29.

During the hearing, the bench, while referring to media reports, asked as to whether Chandni Chowk in Delhi would be declared as heritage.

The state had earlier told the court that they would come out with vision document by October 15.

The Centre had earlier told the court that it had communicated to the Uttar Pradesh government to send a proposal to declare Agra a 'heritage city'.