The Taj Mahal will collapse in less than five years unless the India government acts to prevent a growing environmental catastrophe, campaigners have said.
Conservationists and politicians say the foundations of the historic mausoleum are rotting because they have dried out.
The 358-year-old tomb, one of the architectural wonders of the world, is built on a foundation of mahogany posts sunk into wells fed by the Yamuna River in Agra, north India.
Now the river is running dry as a result of pollution, industry and deforestation.
Campaigners believe the foundations have become brittle and are disintegrating.
Cracks appeared last year in parts of the tomb, and the four minarets which surround the monument are showing signs of tilting.
The Taj Mahal was built by Mogul emperor Shah Jahan, who was grief-stricken by the death of his wife Mumtaz Mahal in childbirth.
