Preservation and restoration of Taj Mahal issue: 'It seems that authorities have washed their hands off the Taj'

This comes after the UP government in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court suggested that the monument could be brought under the "Adopt a Heritage Scheme" of the Centre.

Uttar Pradesh: Amid blame-game over culpability of taking charge of protecting and preserving the national heritage Taj Mahal; Supreme Court on Thursday observed that there has to be one authority which takes charge of the monument. Hearing the case, Justice Lokur said, “It seems that authorities have washed their hands off the Taj. We are in a situation where a vision document is prepared without the involvement of the ASI.” On the other hand, Attorney General KK Venugopal apperaring on the behalf of for UP government said “Archaeological Survey of India is not responsible for relocation of industry in Taj trapezium zone”. He further said, “UNESCO is thinking about declassifying Darjeeling railway from list of Heritage sites. It will be a huge embarrassment Taj Mahal is also removed”. This comes after the UP government in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court suggested that the monument could be brought under the "Adopt a Heritage Scheme" of the Centre. The scheme allows employing private and public companies for providing cleanliness and civic amenities at heritage monuments. Taking on UP government over this move, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked CM Yogi Adityanath to resign. “Resign if you can't take care of Taj Mahal” Kejriwal tweeted.