The Bombay High Court today appointed a city-based technological institute to ascertain if tunnelling work for the Metro III line could cause
any structural damage to two Parsi temples here.
A bench of Justices A S Oka and R I Chagla directed the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, appointed as an independent expert body, to submit its report to the court in 10 days.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by the Parsi community in the city opposing the drilling work for two tunnels of the Metro III line.
The petitioners told the high court that the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) was making two tunnels near the Azad Maidan area in south Mumbai as part of its work on the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro III corridor.
As per the present plan of the MMRC, the tunnels will pass directly under two fire temples and Atash Behrams (sacred fires), one at the junction of Princess Street, and another at Kalbadevi in south Mumbai, both heritage sites.
The petitioners said the proposed work, in its current form, would lead to desecration of the holy fires, threaten the structural safety of the temple buildings, and might also make the wells at the temples run dry.
The MMRC had informed the court yesterday that following apprehensions by the Parsi community, it had altered the alignment of the tunnelling work by around four metres to ensure that no damage was caused to the temples or the wells.
The bench, however, said an independent expert must be consulted to assess whether the MMRC's assurances would hold true or if any damage was likely to be caused to the heritage structures.
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