Mumbai: In a setback to the Parsi community, the Bombay High Court on Friday lifted the stay on tunnelling work for the Metro 3 project under two fire temples. The HC directed the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) to strictly monitor the work to ensure no damage is done to the structures. The court also refused to grant the community two weeks to appeal against the order in the Supreme Court.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice M.S. Karnik was hearing a petition filed by Jamshed Sukhadwalla, a Parsi structural engineer, Rooyintan Peer, a priest, and other community members to protect the Wadia Atash Behram and Anjuman Atash Behram fire temples. The petitioners fear that the Metro route will affect the temples.
The 188-year-old Wadia Atash Behram and 122-year-old Anjuman Atash Behram, located near the Princess Street junction, house the highest grade of fire for the Parsis.
Senior counsel Shreehari Aney, appearing for the MMRCL, said the Metro has been facing a ₹4-crore loss every day since the HC granted a stay on work in May.
Senior counsel Navroz Seervai, representing the Parsi community, requested the court to continue the stay for another two weeks to enable them to approach the apex court, but the Bench refused to do so.
On July 25, the court had appointed Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) to find out if the tunnelling work would affect the temples in any way while considering the issues of structural safety, tunnelling, station construction, and controlled blasting at a very close distance.
On August 9, the VJTI had submitted a 19-page report that said the proposed tunnelling work will not have an adverse impact on the structures and on the quality of water in wells on the premises.
In the previous hearing, the MMRCL had told the court that it had altered the alignment of the tunnelling work by four metres to ensure no damage is done to the temples. The petitioners had said there is an alternative plot at Kalbadevi for the Metro route.
