The Indian government's environment watchdog has expressed concern about increasing air pollution around the world-famous marble monument to love, the Taj Mahal, a report said.

　　"There is a gross violation of sensitive area ambient air quality norms with respect to both suspended particulate matters and respiratory particulate matters," the Press Trust of India (news - web sites) Wednesday quoted an affidavit filed by the Central Pollution Control Board in the Supreme Court as saying.

　　The Taj Mahal, which was given a facelift two years ago to remove decades of grime and pollution stains, was built by the heartbroken emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his second wife Mumtaz Mahal in the 17th century.

　　The major source of pollution around the Taj has been smoke spewed out of thousands of nearby iron foundries, brick kilns and glass-making units.

　　In a bid to preserve the Taj the Supreme Court in 1996 ordered the closure or relocation of the polluting units and imposed a ban on industrial activity and on motor vehicles in the vicinity of the marble monument. It also ordered regular monitoring of the air quality around the monument.

　　Some 2.2 million Indians and 800,000 foreigners last year visited the Taj Mahal in the northern town of Agra -- far more than any other tourist site in India.
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