Parsis fear Metro-III alignment may endanger fire temples

The upcoming Mumbai Metro-III project has caused consternation in Parsi community as the underground corridor will pass below some of their ancient and most revered fire temples in the island city.
Members of the community today gathered near ancient Bhikha Behram Well, located adjacent to Azad Maidan, which Parsis consider a sacred place of worship, in south Mumbai.
The Metro 3 tunnel will also pass below the Dadysett Agiary at Hutatma Chowk in Fort besides the Behram Well.
One of the underground tunnels of the ambitious project will pass under Jagannath Sunkersett Road, on which two fire temples are located. Community members feel the holy fire could be desecrated due to the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz line or Metro-3 and the Behram Well may get damaged.

Once completed, the 33.5-km long line will be the first underground metro line in Mumbai. The metro line will connect Cuffe Parade business district in the extreme south of the city to SEEPZ in the north-central with 26 underground and one at-grade station.
The Zoroastrians are demanding that the route of the project, being implemented by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRC), be changed to avoid any damage to their Agiaries.

Demanding a change in the metro route at Girgaum in south Mumbai, the community recently generated an online petition raising objections to the alignment passing below their fire temples.

"Two fire temples are going to be affected by this project. The metro which will go through here (underneath the Behram Well) should not spoil the streams of water," said one of the protesters Farokh Gutla.
An MMRC spokesperson had earlier said that the tunnelling for Metro III is not directly below the well.
The metro project is facing protests from environmental activists who are opposing the construction of Metro Car Shed on the area of Aarey Milk Colony, a green lung in western suburbs. A petition is also being heard in the Bombay High Court against the proposed metro car shed.

In her article, senior journalist Bachi Karkaria has proposed a balanced view over the objections raised by Parsis.