THE MAN WHO SAVED THE TAJ MAHAL
Bajaj Films Productions Ltd.
"The Man Who Saved the Taj Mahal" is a documentary film about an extra-ordinary man who saved the Taj Mahal from Acid rain and pollution. It’s a rich story about one man who stands up and fights against overwhelming odds—a classic David vs. Goliath story.
Mr. Mehta thought: The Taj Mahal, one of the greatest symbols of LOVE has "Marble Cancer." It must be saved. But how? The film is now compleated.
We travel with Mr. Mehta to Taj Mahal and hear his story of 14 long year’s legal battle with the Indian Government and the factories owners around Taj Mahal. He takes us back to his first visit. Through historical film footage and photographs of the Taj Mahal we see how the pollution and acid rain from nearby factories was killing one of the greatest wonders of the world.
We will juxtapose the arguments of Mehta’s to those of the poor laborers who had only been trying to earn in the factories. What were their objections? What were the problems faced? Who opposed him? How did he eventually win? What are the results so far? What does it feel like to have finished his long battle, and win?
We will travel with Mr. Mehta to the Supreme Court in New Delhi (one of the most beautiful buildings in India) to understand how he fought the polluters in the courts and why it took eleven long years to make the ruling that would finally bring this landmark case to a successful conclusion. We hope to interview the judges who were involved in this case to see what problems prevented them from making the ruling sooner.
We will talk to Mehta about his current work developing an international facility in the foothills of the Himalayas, teaching and training a new generation of public interest environmental lawyers and teachers. Mehta is a passionate and celebrated environmental advocate who has won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize and the coveted Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service (an award commonly known as the alternative Nobel Prize).
On the Earth Day in March 2000, President of the U.S. Bill Clinton came to see the Taj Mahal with his daughter Chelsea and said, “that pollution had managed "to do what 350 years of wars, invasions and natural disasters have failed to do. It has begun to mar the magnificent walls of the Taj Mahal… I understand this is called marble cancer by environmentalists. If this is what pollution can do to a stone, I fear to think of what it will do to our children." He added, “Today is the Earth Day -- but India is a land that has been worshipping its earth and environment for centuries. But it is now time to protect our earth because global warming is a reality." He said that a constant effort was needed to save it from degradation. "I am not asking India to overlook its economic concerns, but today we have the technology to make economic growth without eroding the environment." (We have purchased this footage and used in the film)