Plea for Taj Mahal

October 1, 1980

Members of the Indian Heritage Society have asked Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to save the Taj Mahal from industrial pollution. The Uttar Pradesh state government has already agreed to move two power stations because the fumes are affecting the 300-year-old white marble mausoleum at Agra. But the conservationists are more concerned over a giant oil refinery that is almost complete at Mathura, 18 miles away. They have suggested a 25-mile pipeline be built to carry away harmful refinery effluents and gas.