Agra: There was a sense of frustration among the tourists who had come to Agra to see the majestic Taj Mahal. The 17th-century marble mausoleum was engulfed with a thick layer of smog on Wednesday as the city battled with air pollution for the third consecutive day.Incidentally, the central and state governments have issued Rs 106.78 crore to control air pollution in the city.Out of these, over Rs 80 crore has been used to tackle the issue since 2020-21. Despite the spending, the situation in the air remains the same, as citizens continue to suffer and the Taj Mahal continues to bear the brunt. Government agencies have been asked to sprinkle water at construction sites and near the Taj Mahal, district magistrate Bhanu Chandra Goswami said. Besides, waste burning is banned in the city, and authorities have been asked to penalise violators, he added.Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) officials denied that pollution was the only reason and that city fog was a co-factor in the Taj Mahals disappearance in smog. However, data from the Air Quality Index (AQI), compiled by the Agra Smart City office on Wednesday, presented a different picture. According to the data, the AQI was 456 at Kalakriti while it was 475 at the Amar Hotel monitoring centre, marking the air quality as severe. Incidentally, both of these locations were just 2 km away from the Taj Mahal, a world heritage site. Incidentally, according to the data compiled by CPCB through six centres in the city, AQI remained moderate at 112. CPCB scientist Kamal Kumar claimed the CPCB data to be most authentic. He also said that the time-bound actions taken by local authorities have helped in controlling the situation in the city. However, city-based doctor and environmentalist Dr Sharad Gupta expressed doubts about CPCB data. The high pollution level is evident, as a burning sensation can be felt. There is a surge in the number of patients suffering from respiratory ailments reporting to hospitals. Taj Mahal remains engulfed in a thick layer of smog, he said. It seems that the CPCB data is being manipulated in Agra to give the false impression that pollution is under control. On Wednesday, the AQI level according to CPCB in the neighbouring districts of Dholpur and Bharatpur in Rajasthan remained at 326 (very poor) and 247 (poor). How can AQI in Agra remain in the moderate category? he wondered.

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