NEW DELHI: A video by a Polish travel vlogger has gone viral on social media, showing heaps of garbage and sewage along the Yamuna River behind the iconic Taj Mahal in Agra. The footage has reignited debates over India’s cleanliness and the state of tourist destinations.Posted on Instagram by user @podroznikdowynajecia, the clip shows a group of tourists reacting to the unhygienic conditions behind the monument. One woman is seen covering her nose with a scarf, while others remark, “Where is the Taj Mahal? It stinks terribly. Worse than Chennai.” The camera then pans to piles of trash littering the riverbank.The video has sparked mixed reactions online. While some viewers applauded the vloggers for drawing attention to environmental issues, others criticised them for allegedly portraying India in a negative light and reinforcing stereotypes.Amid the backlash, the creators clarified in the caption that their intention was not to shame India but to highlight a pressing concern. The clip continues to circulate widely, drawing both support and criticism across platforms.“India is a great country. We would never think to hate this great part of the world. There are many clean and beautiful places. We plan to return soon and share videos from this better side of India,” they wrote.“I don’t understand the point of this video. As a tourist why would you specifically go to a place filled with garbage, make a video of it and share it?” a user said.Another user added, “Embarrassing. You could record such videos in the forests of Poland too. Why not talk about why this happens instead of making fun of it?”“Taj Mahal is fantastic but the surrounding, as an Indian myself, I know the condition,” one of the users said.“Imagine having so little respect for your country, the biggest man-made attraction for it is surrounded with waste and stinks,” another commenter added.
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