The Bombay High court on Tuesday has asked the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) to get an idea from an independent expert body and submit a report about the probable damage which could be caused to two Parsi temples in the island city due to the work carried out by the Mumbai Metro III work.
The MMRC in its reply has informed the court that after going through the petitioner's plea that the new development might cause a damage to their religious place, the department on itself has altered the alignment of the tunnel in such a way that it would just touch the temple's veranda.
MMRC's counsel, Shrihari Aney while addressing the bench presided by Justice A S Oka and R I Chagla said, "Following the apprehensions of the Parsi community, the MMRC has decided to alter the alignment of such tunneling work by around four metres to ensure that no damage was caused to the temples or the wells. Rather the tunneling work would only touch the verandah area of one of the two temples. Also, the work would not cause any structural damage to the heritage structure"
The bench, however, noted that besides the verbal submissions the MMRC had not given any report from the structural expert, who would substantiate its say. "What if the petitioners' apprehensions come true and any of these structures are damaged? Their repair and restoration will be very difficult," the bench said.
As per the MMRC's plan, the tunnels will pass directly under two fire temples and Atash Behrams (sacred fires) — one at the junction of Princess Street and the other at Kalbadevi. The petitioners hold that the work will lead to desecration of the holy fires, threaten the structural safety of the temples — both of which are heritage structures and that the temple wells may run dry. The MMRCL denied that the work would cause such damage.
