March 21, 2002	Thursday	Muharram 6, 1423

NEW DELHI, March 20: India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the government to formulate security plans to prevent possible attacks by militant groups on the Taj Mahal, a report said.

According to the United News of India (UNI) news agency, the federal government as well as the local government in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where the famous marble monument to love is situated, were given until April 9 to present the security proposals to the court.

The court was hearing a public interest petition filed seeking to protect the 16th-century Mughal era monument from air pollution when the threat posed by militant groups was also considered, the UNI report said.

Security measures at the Taj Mahal were tightened in January after Uttar Pradesh government officials said they had received threats via e-mail, allegedly from the Lashkar-e-Taiba, threatening to blow up the monument.

There was a swift denial from Lashkar.

The Supreme Court ruled that on April 9 it would decide whether the security of the monument should be entrusted to the federal or local administrations, the UNI report said.

The Taj Mahal was built by the heart-broken emperor Shah Jehan in memory of his beloved second wife who died during childbirth.

More than 10,000 artisans toiled for over 20 years to construct the mausoleum, which is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.—AFP