Air pollution levels around the Taj Mahal are rising again, despite the government having spent Rs. 220 crore trying to reduce them. The level of nitrogen dioxide (NOX) in the area around the Shah Jahan-built monument of love at Agra, 195 km southeast of Delhi is now higher than in 1996,
when the government began tackling the problem. Against 22 ug per cubic metre of air in 1996, the current level is 30 ug/m3.
NOX can affect the sparkle of the monument’s marble façade.
“There is increasing air pollution, which may be attributed to rise in man and vehicular population,” said the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, in a recent report.
The report had been sought by the environment ministry to gauge the impact of eight centrally funded projects started in 1998 to reduce air pollution in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ). The projects, on which Rs. 220 crore has been spent, were started after the Supreme Court intervened in the early 1990s to check Taj air pollution.
The NEERI report says pollution levels in the TTZ kept reducing till 2002, after which air toxicity began to rise.
Two other major air pollutants are respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) and suspended particulate matter (SPM). Their levels too are rising in the TTZ. They are currently 66 per cent and 83 per cent in that region, which is higher than national air quality standards.
The NEERI report found the air quality around the Taj worse than that in 10 major urban areas, including Faridabad, Kolkata and Pune.
The government’s effort to improve the quality of ground water in the area has failed too, the report said. “Salinity of underground water has not improved despite construction of Gokul barrage,” it stated.
This is primarily because of the increase in groundwater extraction around the Taj. The groundwater level has fallen by four meters in seven years since 2007. It was also being polluted by the discharge of effluents from the local industry.
