Twitterati panic as SC tells govt to either ‘restore the Taj Mahal or demolish it’

The court was hearing a petition to that called for the proper maintenance of Taj Mahal, the Mughal-era marble mausoleum, which draws thousands of tourists every year.

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“Eighty million go to watch Eiffel Tower, which looks like a TV Tower. Our Taj is more beautiful,” says Supreme Court. (Source: File Photo)

Calling the protection of the Taj Mahal a ‘hopeless cause’, the Supreme Court slammed the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government for being lethargic towards the issue of preserving the 16th-century monument. “Either we will shut down the Taj or you demolish or restore it,” the court told the government on July 11.

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The court was hearing a petition that called for the proper maintenance of the Mughal-era marble mausoleum, which draws thousands of tourists every year. The judges even compared the monument with the Eiffel Tower in Paris and said, “Eighty million go to watch Eiffel Tower, which looks like a TV Tower. Our Taj is more beautiful.” The court further stated that the orders were not being complied with.

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In their defence, the Centre stated that researchers from IIT Kanpur have been assessing the source of pollution near the monument and will be submitting the report by the next four months.

The court’s statement did not go down well with many people, who took to various social networking platforms to express their views. While some criticised it, others were clearly upset. Moreover, many who had not seen the monument, were worried that it would be demolished before they could even visit it. Here are some of the reactions:

I haven’t seen taj Mahal nor Eiffel tower 🙄 hope they’ll stay there until I go and watch them 🤞🏼

— سدرہ (@iam_sidrah) July 11, 2018

Woah, Indian Supreme Court decision on Taj Mahal is truly comendable. While at it, find a stern way to make visitors more responsible towards historic monuments too, like higher littering fines, no spitting, etc ? #TajMahal

— Aayush Patial (@sPatial_A) July 11, 2018

the taj mahal was my favourite building i ever studied in art history and if it gets demolished…… pic.twitter.com/GrDgUfAX0f

— Sabrina Mara (@ArcticSabrina) July 11, 2018

Why not rename Taj Mahal as Jio Mahal & see the difference

— Dr Luttapi (@Mayavi101) July 11, 2018

Agree that Taj Mahal is indeed our nation’s pride! It deserves better attention and maintenance for sure!

— Aswin Sekhar (@aswinsek) July 11, 2018

I gotta go see the Taj Mahal before they demolish it.

— X. (@ThedreamerX) July 11, 2018

😕🕌
This is troubling news – and how much longer can this iconic monument sustain up to 70,000 visitors per /day/ without suffering long term damage? 🙏🕊

India government is ‘failing’ to protect Taj Mahal. https://t.co/ijAAl4HTS4

— Noor un Nisa 🙏 (@OrientalEnigma) July 11, 2018

You can try harder to get your facts right. Stop polluting @TajMahal. It’s a world’s heritage site.

— siwelylla (@A_Munroe786) July 11, 2018

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