Metro work to go on under agiaries as HC rejects Parsi’s plea
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) rejected a petition by a member of the Parsi community against the underground Metro work, allowing the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) to continue tunnelling under the Parsi agiaries at Kalbadevi and Princess Street.
The court, however, gave the petitioner two weeks to appeal against its order in the Supreme Court.
A division bench of chief justices Naresh Patil and Makarand Karnik was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) that had challenged the MMRC’S decision to dig tunnels under the two Atash behrams (the place of fire in the temples). The petitioner had contended the work would cause irreparable damage to the temples, and the source of water to the well. The HC had stopped the tunnelling work in May and asked an expert committee to study the concerns raised by the community members.
On Friday, senior advocate Shreehari Aney, along with advocate Kavita Solunkhe, told the court the expert committee report gave a go-ahead for the tunnelling work. MMRC has been incurring a daily loss of ₹4 crore, the advocates said, while arguing why work must be allowed to continue. Senior advocate Navroz Seervai, appearing for the petitioner, said realignment of the line would resolve the issue. However, as MMRC assured the court that care will be taken during tunnelling, the bench dismissed the petition but told the MMRC it had to follow conditions such as setting up a committee that would monitor the work round the clock. The committee has to ensure the source of water to the wells is not affected and the structures do not suffer damage.
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