Agra: The controversial Taj Heritage Corridor, which brought down the Mayawati Govt in 2003, has now been resurrected in a new “green” avatar along the Yamuna bank. A year ago, the then local MP and chairman of the SC/ST panel, Ram Shankar Katheria, laid the foundation of the Taj View Garden, sandwiched between the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort.
The Supreme Court some years ago had asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to clean up the debris from the corridor site and develop the 80 acres of reclaimed land as a green buffer to insulate the Taj Mahal from air pollution. ,But for want of resources, it took over a decade for work to start on this ambitious joint project of UP Forest and Horticulture depts and ASI.
A Horticulture Dept official on the site told IANS: “We have cleared the whole area to develop a green stretch along the Yamuna. This will surely be a new attraction for tourists.” Till last year, this ugly eyesore between the Taj and the Fort was being used as dump and a burial ground.