How to save Taj: Make Agra a solar city

Lucknow Feb 22: It is an identity of

and for some it is a tomb but for many it is a monument for love. The

at Agra has many connotations and it is decaying. Now the Uttar Pradesh government plans to develop Agra as a solar city to save the Taj Mahal from pollution.

There have many plans and ideas to save the Taj and in 2009 there was campaign to plant Tulasi plants to combat Taj Mahal turning yellow due to air pollution.
In the initiative undertaken by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and the Lucknow-based Organic India, a million tulsi saplings were planted near the Taj Mahal. Tulsi, a medicinal plant known for its medicinal qualities will help protect the marble mausoleum from pollution free. Tulsi is one of the best plants to purify the environment. It cleanses as it releases high amounts of oxygen, which minimises the adverse impact of industrial and refinery emission.

Now the new proposal was to make Agra a solar city. It has been approved by Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy following which Agra Nagar Nigam made a master plan, Minister for Alternative Energy Sources, Vijay Kumar Misra told the UP Vidhan Sabha today.

Misra was replying to a question by Dharampal Singh of BSP. The minister said that a detailed project report (DPR) in this regard was almost ready which would soon be sent to the Union government.

The monument was completed in 1648 after 17 years of construction by 20,000 workers.

Agra generates high levels of carbon monoxide. The city and the surrounding area have 5.5 million people living there and attract 7 million tourists annually. In 1998 UNESCO, along with the French company Rhone-Poulenc and the Archaeological Survey of India took up a cleaning programme. It included cleaning of the marble, research into the cleaning products and waterproofing. To prevent rain damage and algae growth special silicone-based agents have been applied to the facade.

OneIndia News