Overflowing Yamuna reaches Taj Mahal's walls for first time in almost half a century

Rising water has touched monument's walls for the first time in 45 years

Rising water from the Yamuna river has reached the walls of the Taj Mahal for the first time in 45 years and flooded an adjacent garden after monsoon rains in northern India swelled rivers across the region.

The 17th century mausoleum in Agra, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, is counted as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World and is built on the southern banks of the Yamuna river.

Due to incessant rain in northern India, the river rose above what is marked as the "low-flood level" of 150.8 metres on Monday.

The Archaeological Survey of India, which manages the historical monument, said water was yet to enter the basement, which holds the tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaaz Mahal.

But water had reached other historical monuments, such as the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula – the grandfather of Mumtaaz Mahal.

Rising water from the Yamuna river has reached the walls of the Taj Mahal. AFP

ASI officials said the mausoleum was designed to prevent water from entering the main monument.

"The Taj Mahal was developed in such a way that water cannot enter the main mausoleum even during high floods. The last time the Yamuna touched the back wall of the Taj Mahal was during high floods in 1978,” said Prince Vajpayee, conservation assistant at the ASI.

In 1978, the river's water level reached 154.8 metres, flooding 22 rooms in the Taj Mahal's basement, leaving behind silt.

The ASI removed the wooden doors, through which the water entered, and erected walls at the entrance from the Basai and Dussehra ghats – the two famous embankments next to the monument.

The flooding at the Taj Mahal comes as flash floods have displaced tens of thousands of people and killed at least 100 in northern India.

In India's Assam state floods have killed at least eight people and displaced more than 115,000 after a regional river burst its banks earlier this month following heavy monsoon rains, officials said on Tuesday.

Water from the swollen Brahmaputra River has engulfed nearly 450 villages in 17 districts in the hilly state in northeastern India, inundating large swathes of wildlife sanctuaries as well, officials said. Floods and landslides are common in Assam due to seasonal monsoon showers almost every year.

"Eight people have died in separate incidents of drowning since the first wave of flooding that began a fortnight ago," said Pijush Hazarika, Assam's water resources minister, noting that water levels have started receding.

Authorities have set up 85 relief camps across the flood-struck districts, providing temporary shelter for more than 3,500 people.

Almost half of Assam's Kaziranga National Park, home to the rare one-horned rhino, was covered in waist-deep water, and rhinos, elephants and deer have been forced to seek refuge on roads and in human settlements, officials said.