Between two world heritage monuments, the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal, the Taj Corridor today is really nobody's baby, after the Supreme Court in 2003 stayed construction on the site.

 Dr. BB Awasthi, regional officer of the UP Pollution Control Board said, "it is not our responsibility to clean up the area. I will ask the municipal authorities and send them a notice."

 District authorities said, "the Taj Corridor is court property and they can not interfere till the stay in vacated." The Agra Development Authority officials informed they had put up an iron gate to regulate movement of undesirable elements.

However the gate always remains open and there is no one there to look after the incomplete Corridor which has become a dumping ground of municipal waste.

 "The real fear is that dreaded diseases could break out as carcasses are lying scattered around inviting mosquitoes and parasites," pointed out tourist guide Ved Gautam.

 The Taj Corridor is an eye opening example of how we care for our heritage and the tourism sector, comments Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society.

 Even as the civic authorities are engaged in a massive beautification drive ahead of the Commonwealth Games, which may see an influx of at least 100,000 tourists to Agra, the grandiose Taj Corridor development project conceived between two World Heritage monuments- the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort- on the river Yamuna, has become an "eyesore" that is "spoiling the ambience" of the area.

 When tourists look at the Taj Mahal from Agra Fort, what they see is disturbing- heaps of stinking garbage, carcasses, graves of children dotting the structure and mounds of rubble that invite mosquitoes, dogs, snakes, crows and vultures.

 "Such an ugly sight near the world's most beautiful monument can be repulsive and nauseating," said an NRI tourist.

 The `175-crore ($3.5 million) project was to be built on a platform raised from scooped silt of the river to construct an amusement park, malls, commercial shops and walkways through dense wilderness to allow tourists to take a leisurely stroll in moonlit nights, according to the company National Projects Corp Ltd, which was assigned the task.

 The corridor was to begin from Khan-e-Alam, close to the Taj Mahal, and end two kilometres towards the city behind Agra Fort. It was to be extended later to allow tourists to reach Etmaddaula and Ram Bagh on the other side of the river.

For three months, hundreds of tractors, earthmovers and machines worked round the clock to dig out silt and deposit it on the riverbank to create a new platform, which was laid with Rajasthani stones.

But, after a hue and cry from conservationists that the corridor would endanger the monument and allegations of large-scale corruption in the project, the central government suspended the work in 2003. The scandal involved government allotment of large tracts of land along the proposed corridor to a private builder for a song.

The matter now lies with the Supreme Court, which has banned any new construction at the site.

Some people in Agra still feel the project was a victim of politics. "The previous NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government used it as an excuse to settle scores with Mayawati in 2003," alleged Dalit activist Netra Pal Singh.

Some say the project could genuinely boost tourism, as it was envisaged to be located between the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, both heritage monuments.

"It might even help save the dying river Yamuna once people start coming to the lush green lawns of the corridor. A rethinking with an open mind is called for," environmental activist Rajan Kishore said.

"Now that a platform has already come up, it can be cleaned up and used for various social and cultural activities. Even a night bazaar can come. The hotels can be roped in. The army unit stationed nearby and in the fort can be asked to supervise. We need to innovate and improvise rather than keep complaining," Kishore said.