Action on 'war footing' for conserving Taj Mahal: Government
New Delhi, July 16: After being rapped by the Supreme Court over the condition of the Taj Mahal, the government on Monday said that it will take action on "war footing" to deal with air and water pollution in and around the world-famous 17th-century Mughal monument.
The assurance came after a a high-level inter-ministerial meeting here, chaired by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma and state Minister Satyapal Singh, where the steps to tackle yellowing of the Taj Mahal and controlling Yamuna pollution were discussed.
Addressing a press conference, Gadkari announced that the Centre has decided to adopt several measures for preserving the heritage such as introduction of green fuels, e-buses, opening more ethanol industries and cleaning of river Yamuna.
"To deal with air pollution the use of bio fuel, green fuel and electric vehicles will be popularised in Agra," he said.
"An ethanol policy will be introduced for Agra which will include conversion of bio mass to ethanol during the crop burning season and use of ethanol in auto rickshaws combined with introduction of mass rapid transport system as a part of policy of zero tolerance to pollution," he added.
A committee to be headed by headed by Union Environment Secretary C. K. Mishra will be formed to look into the issue of industrial pollution which will also include experts from NEERI, IITs and other environment oriented organizations
"The committee will study on case to case basis and take a tough stand on hazardous industries in the vicinity of the Taj Mahal," the minister said.
To deal with the water pollution in the Yamuna, Gadkari said the cleaning of the Yamuna falls under the Namami Ganga project and several projects are already been taken up to make the river pollution free.
"(A total of) 36 projects of Rs 4,000 crore on the river Yamuna have been identified and it is hoped that the DPRs (detailed project reports) will be completed in next few months. Already 11 projects have started in Delhi on the river Yamuna and the tender for the 12th project will be finalised soon," he added.
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Section of TN hotels declare holiday citing shortage of LPG cylinders
Chennai, Mar 11 (PTI): A section of hotels and restaurants operating in Chennai and parts of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday declared a holiday following the lack of commercial LPG supply to the establishments, employees said.
Early morning customers who had come for tea and coffee expressed disappointment over the closure of the hotels and expressed hope that the Centre would take up measures to ease the situation.
"Due to lack of LPG supply, March 11, 2026 has been declared a holiday," a notice displayed in a popular hotel in the city said on Wednesday.
"If this is the case for commercial LPG, then it may impact the domestic LPG supply also. Already, the booking period for domestic gas has been extended from the existing 21 days to 25 days. We do not know what we will do," a resident who had come for a coffee said, after the hotel in Thiyagaraya Nagar declared a holiday.
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On March 10, the hotel association had voiced concern over sustaining their businesses as the existing stock of commercial LPG "would be sufficient to run the outlet only for one or two days".
Most of the restaurants have also cut the number of food items offered to customers and opted to prepare foods that require minimal usage of the commercial LPG cylinders.
"We have prepared idli, sambhar and vada. We have removed dosa varieties. In the afternoon and dinner, the menu will be variety rices only, since dosa and fried rice items require a continuous supply of LPG," a hotel owner in the famous East Coast Road said.
Representatives of Tamil Nadu Hotels Associations, a body representing the hotels and restaurants in the state, called on Chief Minister M K Stalin on March 10 and apprised him about the situation.
Following his interaction with the representatives, Stalin said he had requested the Union government to ensure that the shortage of commercial LPG does not affect the public, commercial establishments or MSMEs.
