"The vibrant freshness of yester-years is clearly missing," notes Sandeep, a hotelier of Taj Ganj.

 From the rear it is being sand-blasted by a dry Yamuna bed and from the south-west, the dust-laden westerlies from Rajasthan desert have enveloped the white marble marvel in a thick dusty haze.

 "And when you see the camels moving around on the dry river bed, many get the impression that Agra is in a desert, a part of Rajasthan state," says guide Ved Gautam.

 The white marble surface now shows cracks, signs of stress and wear and tear and no amount of mud-pack beauty treatment is going to help, say local conservationists.

 "With the number of vehicles shooting up from just around 40,000 in 1985 when Firozabad was part of Agra district to almost eight lakhs now, the ambient air is full of pollutants. With two national highways criss-crossing Agra, thousands of heavy vehicles pass the city each day leaving behind a trail of noxious gases and particulate matter hanging in the air. You could say the effect of all air pollution control measures have been neutralised," according to eco-activist Shishir Bhagat, president of Wake UP Agra.

 The garden department of the Archaeological Survey of India has done a splendid work restoring the Mehtab Bagh at the rear of the Taj Mahal, as has the UP Forest department which has developed a dense green buffer along the river bank on the opposite side, but the real problem is the Yamuna which has been reduced to a "sewage canal." Shyam Singh Yadav, retired chief horticulturist of the ASI told Agratoday.in "it was really a Herculean task developing a well laid out lush green heritage garden in the vast wasteland behind the Taj. It took years of toil and meticulous planning but now the results are so satisfying that one forgets the pains taken."

 But whether this small patch of green can insulate the Taj from the high SPM (suspended particulate matter) level at the peak of summer is the question worrying conservationists.

Conservationists say that the industrial effluents, the toxic wastes and heavy pollutants flowing from Delhi and Haryana's industrial towns, are eating into soil and corroding the foundation. The composition of the soil around the foundation has drastically been altered, which could make it unstable. "If there is no fresh supply of water in the river which should touch the foundation of the Taj Mahal to counter-thrust the heavy structure and provide a shock absorber type buffer to insulate the building from seismic aberrations, the fear is that in days to come the Taj Mahal could tilt, cave in or struggle for stability," says Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society.

Originally described as Bagh e Baahist, a heavenly garden, the Taj Mahal is now degenerating into a popular tourist spot. "When thousands of tourists daily invade the serene monument, leaving behind hand and foot marks on the white stones, and tons of noxious gases through breathing or releasing foul air, all this cumulatively affects the fragile structure.

And many of these marauders have no love for history or heritage, they attach no importance to the sanctity of the monument which has a divine dimension to it, what do you expect will happen in the long run. Surely its life is being reduced," argues eminent historian of the city RC Sharma.

The human-load, increasing every year, is taking its toll. Last year more than four million people visited the Taj Mahal. Entry is free for children below 15 years. Each Friday when the mausoleum is closed for tourists, the Muslim faithfuls are allowed free entry to offer prayers. During the annual Urs of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, entry is free for three days when the number exceeds 50,000 daily, points out Rajeev Tiwari, president of the Tourism and Travel Agents Association. Tiwari recalls the early days when it was such a pleasant and memorable experience to visit the Taj Mahal, "almost like a spiritual journey to a shrine."

"But now the vulgar romanticism attached to the monument, and the guides spinning out cheap gossipy yarns to titillate the tourists, have in a way defiled the sanctity of the structure which remains a kamadhenu for the government agencies and the private tourist trade," adds heritage photographer Lalit.

"The mausoleum must have been originally designed for 50 or 100 visitors a day. But now there is no end and with the tourism department and the Agra Development Authority making extra efforts to promote tourism, the number will continue to rise. It is therefore time they had a system in place, allowing an X number of visitors inside for a fixed period. Online reservation facility should be made available so that the entry to the mausoleum is orderly and spread out," suggests Abhinav Jain, a local tourism industry leader.

The original life of the Taj Mahal was estimated by historians as 900 years, some 375 years have gone. But with the river Yamuna in a very bad shape, the main life force of the building, and the dusty winds hitting the structure from all sides, the depressing scene further compounded by the increasing human load, a dangerous form of evolving pollution, how long will the symbol of romance and love continue to stand tall and majestic, is a question that is worrying the conservationists.