Parsis to protest against Metro-3

Mumbai: After losing the court battle against the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) Parsis in Mumbai have decided to hit the streets and conduct a peace march against the underground Metro-3 line (Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ). The corridor passes below two Atash Behrams, revered fire temples in the city.

Protesting under the banner of ‘Save our Atash Behrams’, the members from the community have announced a peace march and have asked members of the community throughout the country to participate in the march. The Parsi community had filed a petition against MMRC in Bombay high court, demanding a deviation in the underground alignment to restrict its access below the fire temples. According to Parsis, the tunnel will affect the structural stability of fire temples.

However, the high court ruled out in favour of MMRC on November 30. The court had directed to continue with the tunnel but with strict monitoring. The group is yet to decide on the date, but members have started applying for police permissions.

The community members had also approached the Supreme Court to stop the tunnelling work, however the Supreme Court permitted the MMRC to go ahead with the work.

“The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing to January 4, 2019 after hearing detailed arguments over one and a half hours by Zerick Dastur who argued with scintillating brilliance against the Attorney General of India,” said Jamshed Sukhadwala, the petitioner in this case.