One of the seven Wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal flanks a garbage-strewn river and is often enveloped by dust and smog from belching smokestacks and vehicles in the northern city of Agra. Tiny insects from the drying Yamuna River into which the city pours its sewage crawl into the Taj Mahal, their excrement further staining the marble, an environmental lawyer told India’s Supreme Court. The court slammed the government for not doing enough to preserve the monument, which was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Credit: Reuters
