India’s Supreme Court ordered the closure or relocation of polluting industries near the Taj Mahal in 1996.
The ruling arose from public-interest litigation filed by environmental lawyer M. C. Mehta. Experts reported that emissions from coal- and coke-burning industries in the Taj Trapezium Zone were contributing to air pollution and damaging the monument’s white marble. The court’s landmark judgment, delivered on 30 December 1996, required affected industries to switch to natural gas or relocate outside the protected zone.
The decision applied environmental principles that later became influential in Indian law, including the precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle. It also treated the Taj Mahal as a cultural asset whose protection was a public responsibility, not merely a local conservation issue.
A frequent misunderstanding is that every nearby industry was instantly shut down on the judgment date. The order primarily targeted identified polluting industries and offered cleaner fuel or relocation as alternatives; some closure directions took effect later. Separate orders also addressed brick kilns, vehicles, construction and other pollution sources. The broader regulatory area became known as the Taj Trapezium Zone.