Overview
- Speaking in the Lok Sabha winter session on December 3, BJP MP Rajkumar Chahar said protections tied to the Taj Trapezium Zone and NGT norms have slowed Agra’s development.
- He argued that restrictions on industries in the protected area have limited job creation, calling the Taj Mahal’s beauty a “curse” for local youth seeking work.
- Chahar proposed setting up an IT hub in Agra to create employment opportunities while safeguarding the monument’s aesthetics.
- He cited Agra’s expressway connectivity and location as reasons the city could expand economically if constraints on industry were addressed.
- The TTZ was created to protect the Taj from pollution, with a key Supreme Court ruling in 1996 defining restrictions on industries, and no policy changes to that framework were announced.