Petitioner: Parsis indifferent when it comes to saving community institutions

The Metro corridor will pass right under Wadiaji Atash Behram according to the MMRC website File PicThe Metro authorities are not the only enemy that the Parsis are fighting the communitys apathy seems to be just as much a foe Hours after dashing a letter off to the MMRC on Monday demanding to see a detailed blueprint of the Metro III tunnel route which the Parsis fear will desecrate two of their most prominent places of workshop solicitor Berjis Desai told midday To be very blunt about it we have been very indifferent a huge silent majority of Parsis is very indifferent even when it is its duty to speakSince it came to light last year that the underground Metro IIIs will pass under two of the citys most sacred fire temples the Wadiaji and Anjuman Atash Behrams the Parsi community has been in great distress The fear is that the drilling will end up desecrating the holy fire that has been burning for over a century at the sanctum sanctorum The Wadiaji Atash Behram was consecrated in 1830 and the Anjuman Atash Behram in 1897 and both are also recognised as heritage structuresThe Metro III tunnel is said to pass under Wadiaji fire temple and brush past Anjuman Atash Behram two of the citys prominent fire temples File PicsNo one caresBut not enough has been done by Parsis to address this threat said Berjis Desai When it is their duty to guard their community institutions they prefer to remain silent and dont care one bitWhen it comes to community housing or availing of community charities then everybody will come out Or they will come out once in a while to vote for BPP Trustees But on these kind of issues which are of genuine public interest when there is a sacred fire temple and heritage structure involved no one says anythingDesai is among a group of petitioners who moved the Bombay High Court on May 23 to seek assurance that the Metro tunnel should not go anywhere under the two Atash Behrams The group also includes scholar priest Dr Rooyintan Peshotan Peer structural engineer Jamshed Sukhadwalla and two trustees of the Shah Varzaavand Trust who are being represented by senior counsel Shyam Mehta and advocate Zerick Dastur They questioned why the Mumbai Metro Rail Authorities MMRC had only consulted two out of five vada dasturjis or high priests namely Khurshed Dastoor and Phiroze Kotwal The remaining high priests are Kaikushroo Meherji Rana Cyrus Dastoor Jamasp AsaRoute map as per MMRC website info and position of anteroom approx GraphicRavi JadhavUpon hearing their plea a division bench of the HC comprising Justices Shahrukh J Kathawalla and Ajay Gadkari recorded a statement from the MMRC stating that they would not drill under the agiaries till the next hearing scheduled for midJune The bench also directed the Metro authority to form a panel of its directors and arrange a hearing with the petitioners the five vada dasturjis and all the trustees of the two agiariesThe authorities have been directed by the court to convene this meeting they will need to give us a 72hour notice before the meeting said Desai In order for us to participate effectively in this meeting and have a meaningful discussion we will need to receive all pictures and documents well in advance We dont know if they are going to give us exhaustive documentation but we are hopeful he addedOn Monday afternoon the petitioners shot off a letter to the Metro authorities asking to see all relevant documents and blueprints regarding the alignment of the underground tunnel The letter has gone to them asking for relevant documents asked for specifically by our architect We have requested them to furnish copies of all drawings maps blueprints said DesaiMisleading mapsAn atash behram usually has a large congregation hall at its entrance followed by an anteroom encasing the kebla or innermost sanctum housing the holy fire The MMRC had in a November 10 2017 letter claimed that the tunnel will not pass under the sanctum However according to Sukhadwalla who has been leading the fight against the underground Metro since the very beginning the alignment depicted on the MMRC website is misleadingThe route map on the MMRC webpage doesnt denote the position of the central tunnel which community members fear could be drilled too close to the anteroom or sanctum The Metro line shown on the MMRC website is misleading said Sukhadwalla speaking to midday This is not the alignment of the tunnel it is the sanctioned RL line as mentioned in the diagrams legend Metro authorities should have shown the alignment of the central tunnel and not of the RL line