India’s most famous tourist attraction, the 358-year-old Taj Mahal, will collapse within five years unless something drastic is done. The wooden foundation is becoming brittle and disintegrating due to a lack of water. This is because the river crucial to its survival is being blighted by pollution, industry and deforestation.

The iconic srtructure was commissioned Mogul emperor Shah Jahan, who was grief-stricken by the death of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal in childbirth. A lobby group of historians, environmentalists and politicians say time is running out to prevent a “looming crisis”.

Professor Ram Nath, a historian who is one of the world’s leading authorities on the Taj, said the following:

The Taj stands just on the edge of the river Yamuna which has now dried up. This was never anticipated by its builders. The river is a constituent of its architectural design and if the river dies, the Taj cannot survive.

It would seem the Yamuna River has fallen victim to India’s soaring growth. Large numbers of businesses draw water from the Yamuna upstream of the Taj. Pollution has also increased as trees have been cut down to make way for new roads. The trees also protected the city from the worst effects of regular dust storms which now blow over the Taj, unimpeded.

[Source: Daily Mail]