A day after Union Culture Minister Jagmohan asked the Uttar Pradesh government to stop the construction of a heritage corridor within the Taj heritage zone in Agra, Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday ordered a probe into how the work was undertaken without requisite clearances from the Ministry of Environment and the Archaelogical Survey of India.
"Soon after coming to know about the reported construction activities in the Taj heritage zone, I directed the chief secretary to conduct an inquiry into the matter and ensure that the work is stopped forthwith," she told reporters in Lucknow.
The chief minister said stern action would be taken against the guilty officials and added that she had ordered suspension of the construction activity much before Jagmohan intervened in the matter.
The Union minister in a letter to the chief minister on Friday had asked her to stop construction work at the heritage site.
The chief minister said she would visit Agra on June 25, but declined to say whether a visit to the Taj was scheduled.
