The number of vehicles in the city has shot up from around 40,000 in 1985 when Firozabad too was part of the Agra district, to more than a million now.
The opening of the Yamuna Expressway has increased vehicular traffic, while the pressure of heavy vehicles on the Delhi-Kolkatta and Delhi-Mumbai national highways passing through Agra has increased phenomenally.
Adding to its fatigue is the ever-increasing human load. From a few hundred daily some decades ago, the Taj today is daily visited by thousands.
Last year six million tourists visited the fragile monument. This number does not include children below 15 years for whom entry is free. For five days in a year the entry to the monument is free for everyone.
The tourism industry that thrives on milching the Taj Mahal wants more sops for visitors to attract more visitors, but the conservationists want restrictions imposed to gradually reduce the human load.
Visitors who see the Taj Mahal for the first time never forget to ask the guides: "Is it turning yellow?" The explanation given by the guides is that it is the natural ageing process and has nothing to do with industrial pollution, as all polluting industries in the Agra region have been shut down by the Supreme Court.
To ensure dazzling whiteness and remove stains left behind by pollutants on the Taj Mahal, originally called Bagh-e-Baahist, or heavenly garden, the ASI carries out periodic "Multani mitti" (Fuller's earth) treatment.
The white marble surface is also washed with soap and water Fridays, when the monument breathes freely on its weekly off.
