Parsis meet, discuss Metro-3 alignment

Members of the Christian and Parsi communities met on Sunday to discuss the alignment of the underground corridor of Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro-3 that runs parallel to ancient fire temples and St Teresa's Church at JSS Road in Kalbadevi and Girgaon.

The Parsi community has been demanding a realignment considering some of their oldest fire temples in South Mumbai are heritage structures and might be affected by the work. However, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) assured the concerned members that there is a safe buffer and none of the buildings would be affected.

The community members considered taking the matter to court as there are a total of 85 buildings at threat. Jamshed Sukhadwala, a structural engineer and member of the Parsi community, said, "It looks like the time has come for us to seek legal recourse to oppose the alignment that is being imposed on us. We haven't been given proper surety about our structures not collapsing due to Metro's tunnelling and our Right To Information (RTI) applications are not being answered correctly in a bid to shield information."

Fr Anthony Fernandes, Parish Priest, St Teresa's Church, said, "It is not about the particular community or religion over here. We will develop a common public opinion and act in the interest of human rights."

Meanwhile another Parsi resident from JSS Road, Homa Pouredehi, said, "The MMRC has no contingency plans in case the buildings parallel to the alignment collapse during the tunnelling and this worrying."