Humayun’s Tomb, a 455-year-old monument to an empress’s love for her husband, faces growing damage from Delhi’s polluted air.
If the Taj Mahal is an enduring symbol of a husband’s love for his wife, the Delhi mausoleum represents a wife’s devotion to her husband. Empress Bega Begum commissioned the Indian subcontinent’s first grand garden tomb more than 450 years ago, using red sandstone and white marble.
A recent joint study by the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee and IIT Kanpur found that pollution was gradually eroding the World Heritage monument. The researchers said sulfur dioxide, airborne dust and moisture reacted to form gypsum. The gypsum then combined with vehicle exhaust, soot from brick kilns and metallic particles to create a dense black crust on the red stone.
The crust was thickest on areas that did not receive direct rain. Researchers said it was more than a surface stain and was gradually weakening the centuries-old sandstone from within, threatening the monument’s survival.
Agra has imposed extensive restrictions on motor vehicles to protect the Taj Mahal, whose ornamentation and geometric design drew inspiration from Humayun’s Tomb. Without cleaner transportation and timely scientific conservation, researchers warned, Delhi’s toxic smog could cause severe and lasting damage to the older monument.
Source: NDTV
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report