Agra: Despite the Supreme Court's directive in 1996 to ensure uninterrupted power supply in and around the Taj Mahal, the Yellow Zone of the iconic monument was in the dark for several hours Monday night which forced security personnel to guard the East Gate of the monument amid darkness for a span of three hours.
The surrounding areas of the Taj Mahal also known as Tajganj received light rains Monday evening owing to which several electric faults were noticed. In addition to this, there was prevalence of strong winds around 8:30 pm on Monday. This led to power supply being shut down at the Yellow Zone of Taj Mahal till 12 am. This in turn forced the security personnel to man the East Gate to the heritage site amid darkness with the help of torch lights.
The video of policemen manning the Taj Mahal East Gate with torches in hand has gone viral thereby exposing the negligence of security arrangements of Taj Security and the electricity distribution agency Torrent Power.
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Inspector Amrit Lal, the security-in-charge at the police check post said that there was no electric supply at the Yellow Zone from 9 pm. They had informed the concerned officials about the problem but there has been no electricity for the last few hours, the Inspector complained. Hence they are keeping a close eye on the gate with the help of torches.
The Archaeological Survey of India and Torrent Power, however, maintained that there was uninterrupted power supply in the area barring a limited portion of an area owing to a local fault. The issue was resolved soon after by the technical team. Prince Vajpayee, senior conservation assistant of Taj Mahal said that there was uninterrupted electricity supply to the Taj Mahal complex. Reports about power outage is baseless, he said.
Both the Supreme Court and the government are strict about security arrangements at the Taj Mahal. The iconic monument's security is entrusted to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Taj Security Police. While the CISF is responsible for security in the Taj Mahal complex, also known as the Red Zone, the Taj Security Police has been deployed for the Yellow and Green zones. The Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) guards the Taj Mahal from Mehtab Bagh on the other side of the Yamuna.
CCTVs have been installed in the Red and Yellow zones for the security of Taj Mahal. However, more than half of the CCTVs in the Yellow Zone are not in working condition.
