Dr. Debashish Bhattacharya of the River Connect Campaign submitted a memorandum to the Divisional Commissioner on this issue this morning
- By Brij Khandelwal
2025.09.19 (Vrindavan Today News): Agra is once again in trouble. Shah Jahan Park, a lush 90-acre green stretch between the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, is being damaged in the name of “Sanskriti Van” (Culture Forest). Century-old trees are being suffocated. Butterfly habitats are vanishing. Green lawns are being dug up to make kiosks and concrete pathways.
It hurts the heart. A city that is home to the Taj Mahal is cutting down its own green shield. First, the Metro project swallowed a major portion of this park and turned it into a barren parking lot. Now the Agra Development Authority (ADA) talks of developing yet another “Heritage Park,” which appears more like a mix of greed and arrogance—reminiscent of the controversial Taj Heritage Corridor of 2003.
ADA says it is transforming Shah Jahan Park into a theme park. But its plans look more like a contractor’s checklist: mini-monuments, smart poles, sound systems, dustbins, gazebos, kiosks, paved pathways. All this within 500 meters of the Taj Mahal, where the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Supreme Court have clearly prohibited any new construction.
They claim the park will connect the Taj and Agra Fort as a “green walkway.” But what green will remain? Even ADA admits this is for tourism. Which means concrete, crowds, shops, and noise—right in the buffer zone that should be protecting the heritage and environment.
The project itself raises suspicions. It seems to be an old idea recycled from the World Bank’s 2016–2018 “Heritage Walkway” plan, which was quietly shelved. Now it has been revived and turned into a commercial venture.
Environmental activist Dr. Debashish Bhattacharya says the illegality is obvious. ASI rules clearly state no construction can happen within 500 meters of the Taj. The Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized protecting this fragile heritage environment. Yet, construction continues. How? Because once the government gives its green signal, local voices are crushed.
Even the local horticulture department has raised objections, seeing the damage. Environmentalists are protesting. But ADA enjoys political patronage. With approvals stamped in Lucknow, Agra pays the price.
The greatest tragedy is what is being lost. Century-old trees are having their roots dug up. Grass that sheltered insects and butterflies has been uprooted. The park was home to birds and pollinators. Now all that is gone—replaced by kiosks and lampposts.
We have already seen this with the Metro project. Trees were felled, a few replanted elsewhere, but most died. That section of the park is now a heat-spewing parking zone. Where there was once shade, there is now blinding concrete. The city’s ambient climate has worsened. And now the remaining part of Shah Jahan Park is on the same destructive path. Let us not forget—thousands of trucks carrying sand and gravel cross the adjacent road every night, in addition to tourist buses, cars, and other vehicles already polluting the area. Shah Jahan Park absorbs much of this pollution, but if its green cover shrinks, the city’s future will be grim.
What is worse, ADA hasn’t even obtained Supreme Court permission to cut trees. Nor has it accounted for the trees lost during the Metro project. Who benefits from this silence? Contractors, vendors, and politicians—waiting to cut ribbons.
Biodiversity expert Dr. Mukul Pandya says, “The name ‘Sanskriti Van’ is a joke. Culture is not built with kiosks and plastic benches. Heritage is not honored with fake monuments. And the environment cannot be protected by decorating it like a fairground. This is not development, this is betrayal—of the people of Agra, of the city’s ecology, and of the Taj Mahal. The Taj is not just a marble monument. It needs trees, grass, and open spaces. Take that away, and you steal its soul.”
Shah Jahan Park must not be allowed to quietly die. The people of Agra, environmentalists, and heritage lovers must unite. The city has already lost too many green spaces to the Metro, highways, and parking lots. No more.
The message is clear: development should not mean destruction. Planting a few saplings cannot replace the cooling shade and carbon absorption of century-old trees. Tourism profits cannot justify degrading the environment. And governments cannot crush people’s rights in the name of progress.
Green activist Jagan Prasad Tehria warns: “If this project is not stopped, Agra’s last big park will turn into a concrete jungle. The city’s green lungs will be gone. And even the Taj Mahal’s beauty—dependent on its surrounding air and light—will be endangered.”
The time to save Agra and the Taj is now. Shah Jahan Park is not just land—it is the Taj’s natural armor, the city’s green hope.
