Agra Development Authority to ensure compliance with SC’s order!
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed the Agra Development Authority (ADA) to immediately stop all commercial activities within a 500-metre radius from the peripheral wall of the Taj Mahal.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and AS Oka told the Agra Development Authority to ensure compliance with its order in relation to the 17th-century white marble mausoleum.
The order of the court came while hearing an application seeking direction to the authorities to prohibit commercial activities within the 500-metre radius of the historic mausoleum.
The court said, "We allow the prayer that reads-- Direct the Agra Development Authority to remove all business activities within 500 meters from the boundary or peripheral wall of the monument which shall be in tune with Article 14 of the Constitution of India."
The 500m-radius of the monument is a no-construction zone, besides strict regulations on vehicular movement.
There is also a ban on burning wood near the monument and municipal solid waste and agriculture waste in the entire area.
The bench took on into the submissions of senior advocate ADN Rao, who is assisting the court as an amicus-curiae that it would be in the interest of the protected monument to issue directions for barring all commercial activities near the Taj Mahal.
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