India’s Taj Mahal Has Insect Problem

India’s world-famous Taj Mahal is facing a new threat: insect poop. The Yamuna River flows around the Taj Mahal, and the river is heavily polluted. Large numbers of insects are breeding in the polluted waterway. Officials say the insects land on the Taj Mahal and leave poop behind on its white stone walls. The insects’ droppings are beginning to turn the walls green.

Bhuvan Vikram is the top official at the Archeological Survey of India in the city of Agra, home of the famous building. He told VOA that, “During the evening time, [the insects] get attracted towards the white [surfaces] and during the night they stay over there and leave those greendeposits.” Workers try to remove the insects’ waste. But experts fear heavy cleaning could damage the artwork in the Taj Mahal. Vikram said workers first discovered the problem last year. But they identified the cause of the problem only recently. 

A fly known as the genus Geoldichironomus is the insect responsible for all the droppings. Those insects survive best in the hot weather and in the algae along the sides of the river. The city of Agra is home to many people and lots of industry. Environmentalists have struggled for years to protect the Taj Mahal’s white stone from turning yellow because of air pollution.

Read the full article @ The VoA