This is when the union ministry of environment on Tuesday accepted in the Lok Sabha that pollution could lead to yellowing of the white marble of the Taj and corroborated the findings of a Indo-US study published in December in this regard. He told the House that the Taj could get discoloured due to the adverse impact of air pollution, The environment around the 17th century monument has high concentration of light absorbing particles.

The research paper was published in the journal of Environmental Science and Technology, besides those of Georgia Institute of Technology, IIT Kanpur and Archaeological Survey of India.

"It reported that ambient particulate matter contains relatively high concentration of light absorbing particles that could potentially discolour the Taj," Javadekar said, replying to a question in the Lok Sabha.

When contacted, divisional commissioner Pradeep Bhatnagar, said he was waiting for the PSC team's visit for conducting the meeting of stakeholders. "Earlier, a visit of the PSC team was scheduled for February 22 but it was postponed at the last minute. They have not set any new date for the visit. We will conduct this meeting in its presence.

"As far as stakeholders are concerned, they are already in the Taj trapezium zone committee. There is no need to conduct a separate meeting. We will conduct a meeting with them before the PSC's visit to review steps initiated by them to curb pollution," he added.

Concerned over Indo-US report on factors causing yellowing of the Taj Mahal, the PSC on January 10 had set the deadline of two months for the Agra administration to find more ways to reduce pollution level in the city. Prior to this, the PSC had directed the Agra administration to initiate steps to curb pollution around the Taj.

Consequently, the Agra district administration ordered almost 18,000 diesel-run mini pick-up trucks and auto rickshaws operating in the TTZ to convert to CNG by July this year.

It also banned with immediate effect the burning of cow dung cakes within city limits. Further, the Agra Municipal Corporation was instructed to impose a fine of Rs 500 on those found burning garbage in the open.

Bhatnagar presented this report to the PSC, but it asked the city administration to hold talks with ASI, pollution control department, civic bodies and look for more ways to curb pollution.

When contacted, ASI officials said they were waiting for a notification from the commissioner's office in this regard and so far they had not received any intimation.

Officials said there was a need to conduct a thorough survey of the areas in the 2-km radius of the Taj and see if any polluting units are not operating. "The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), in one of its last year's reports had expressed suspicion that there could be some units emitting harmful gases and the issue should be looked into," said an ASI official.