Sacred and profane

The Dadysett Charity Trust (DCT) has for long been contending with the problem of an unsightly, ill maintained garbage collection center located right outside the western wall of the sacred Dadysett Atash Behram in Fanaswadi. Despite letters written and appeals made to the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) over a number of years to relocate the stinking facility, there seems to be no change and the situation continues to fester. The DCT has now appealed for support from community members and organizations to help obtain a positive response from the BMC. When Parsiana spoke to the public relations officer of the BMC, Vijay Khabale on March 26, 2012 he was on leave. He suggested that a letter be sent to the mayor, Sunil Prabhu at the BMC head office, asking for the dump to be relocated and he would follow up with the matter.

Nariman Mody, trustee of The Parsee Vegetarian and Temperance Society (TPVaTS)sent Parsi­ana a copy of his Society’s letter to the assistant municipal commissioner (Ward officer) C Ward dated January 7, 2012, which was accompanied by signatures of 480 Zoroastrian devotees, drawing attention to "a garbage dumper and bins that are kept behind the boundary wall on the west side of our sacred Dadysett Atash Behram... (which) is hurting our religious sentiments. We earnestly request (you) to remove the garbage dumper and bins, and sanitize the place immediately... It is further noticed that four wheeler vehicles, particularly tempos are parked in front of the compound wall of the sacred fire temple and drunkards (and others) go behind the tempos and urinate on the compound wall thus affecting the (fire temple’s) sanctity... The space adjoining the compound wall may be declared as No Hawking and No Parking Zone.”

The 225-year-old place of worship, the oldest atash behram in Bombay, is renowned for its powerful spiritual aura. The WAPIZ (World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis) had published on December 9, 2011 photographs of the overflowing garbage containers marring the sanctity of the adjoining holy place of worship, accompanied by a plea to the BMC to "Please remove this garbage dump!”

Darayesh R. Kat­rak, secretary of DCT, responding to Parsi­ana’s queries in the matter, wrote on February 9, 2012 to say that as far back as June 12, 1998 the then trustee Ratan Lalkaka had written to the C Ward officer thanking him for responding to the DCT’s request not to locate public toilets outside the Atash Behram, work on which had already begun, and asking for the BMC to "arrange to have this rubbish dump located elsewhere for which our community will forever bless you.” Lalkaka thanked the BMC for having "responded positively to our request regarding the toilets... work (on which) has been stopped.”

A copy of this letter, sent to Parsiana, shows Lalkaka’s handwritten notations indicating that he had, along with Behram Dastur, then chief executive officer of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) and the BPP’s assistant secretary Adil Crawford, met the secretary to the municipal commissioner, who directed them to the complaint officer at the C Ward. After the meeting Lalkaka noted: "His response was electric but now to watch as to the implementation!” That was in 1998.

In 2004 seven non-Parsi residents of Fanaswadi signed an appeal addressed to the municipal commissioner of Greater Bombay, the C Ward officer, the area’s MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) and corporator asking them to "kindly shift the garbage collection center, located along the outer wall of the Parsi fire temple and near Sitaram Poddar School to another suitable location... till such time you shift the center... to take action to keep the dump clean.” Their plea was ignored and the area remains unclean and unsanitary, emitting a terrible stench.

On February 21, 2012 DCT trustee Behram Arde­shir sent off another missive to the C Ward officer along with a copy of a Supreme Court order on maintaining the purity and sanctity of a temple filed by The All India Harijan League in a writ petition decided on August 3, 1987. He drew the BMC’s attention to the relevant part of the order which states, "It is not in any way disputed that the area in question is of sanctity and dignity for the temple of Valmiki and the NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corporation) should see that the place is so maintained and should not be used as a garbage disposal center.” Ardeshir once again appealed to the BMC to respect the holy fire temple and remove the eyesore.

Katrak mentioned the role of the BPP which had acted as co-interveners in urging the BMC to move the garbage center to a spot away from the Atash Behram in another letter to Parsiana dated February 27, 2012. He revealed that the late trustee Rustom Tirandaz had personally handed over a petition on behalf of the BPP to Girish Gokhle, the then BMC commissioner and Crawford visited the site every week, urging the personal assistant to the commissioner to solve the problem.

When the public toilet block mentioned by Lalkaka was being constructed close to the sacred well of the Atash Behram from which water is drawn for holy rituals, the DCT had protested vehemently. Some Parsis approached retired Indian Administrative Service officer Jam­sheed Kanga who "requested Mr Sudhakar (the then municipal commissioner) to intervene in the matter and issue suitable instructions so that this act of desecration of a place of worship (of) the community is not done,” writes Katrak. These concerted efforts bore fruit and construction work on the toilets was suspended. But the problem of the garbage collection center remains. Katrak now is hopeful that with the combined efforts of TPVaTS, WAPIZ and concerned members of the community, the BMC, which has once again been appealed to in the matter, will respond favorably and resolve the problem permanently.