Agra: Highrises and Mobile Towers can no longer be built within a 1.5 km radius behind the Taj Mahal to keep the sky foot unobstructed.
Agra Administration has included provisions in the City Parent Plan, which must now be approved by the government.
“There is no construction higher than 25m which can appear behind the Taj Mahal so that the panoramic view of the monument looks without obstacles in the background,” said Dr.
Rajendra Pensiya, deputy chairman of the agra development authority, to the Toi.
“The decision was taken at a recent board meeting after a survey in March last year by the team was there,” said Amit Gupta, Commissioner Division, Agra, who is the chairman.
The body has received several complaints about the obstructed view of the monument.
Four towers, a height of around 50-60m, looks behind Taj – three on the west side and one in the east.
“One of these cellphone towers is destroyed.
The other two heights are reduced to 25m.
One high voltage electricity pole remains on the east side.
We are in the process of moving it, but it will take time,” said Pensiya.
There is only one silent, with which they mean building higher than four floors, in the background.
Administration also considers trees in the background as an obstacle.
“There are some old trees that are 50 m high but cut it is impossible because they fall under the Taj Trapezium zone (the buffer area is marked to save the monument from pollution).
To cut the tree under the zone, we need permission from the Supreme Court,” Pensiya said.
In 2013, the four-day convention of UNESCO experts on visual integrity was held in Agra.
“ASI is bound to ensure the mandate of the visual integrity of the UNESCO website, including the Taj Mahal, followed by the 2013 Convention,” said Rajiv Saxena, Vice President of Tourism Guild Agra.
Former Senior Conservation Assistant Agra Circle Munazzar Ali told TII that breast milk norms set a construction ban in a 100 m radius around the monument and a 15 m high cover for construction within a radius of 300 m.
ASI Superintending Archaeologist (Agra Circle) Vasant Swarnkar said it was a long time discussion about the view of the monument.
“This is a welcome step.”