No halt for Metro

The Bombay High Court has ruled in favor of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) in the contentious case of the alignment of the tunnel under a portion of the H. B. Wadia Atash Behram. Justices Naresh Patil and R. G. Ketkar on November 30, 2018 said the boring of the tunnels should go ahead as planned. No further alignment was to be done. The Court rejected the plea of lawyer Navroze Seervai on behalf of the petitioners, structural engineer Jamshed Sukhadwalla, lawyer Berjis Desai and others for a two-week stay on the operation of the order. Lawyer S. G. Aney, appearing on behalf of MMRCL, told the Court that each day of delay was costing the MMRCL four crore rupees.

Metro construction near H. B. Wadia Atash Behram

The Court order stated that MMRCL could perform controlled blasting as necessary, and ensure no damage is caused to the structures of both the Wadia and the Zarthoshti Anjuman Atash Behrams. Continuous monitoring of water levels in the wells of both the fire temples was stipulated.
One of the appellants Ratan Patel, trustee of Shah Varzavand Trust, remarked to Parsiana, "We have waited six months... can they not give us two more weeks?”
Sukhadwalla told Parsiana, "The option to co-create a solution presented by us has been ignored... If a 100-year-old tree could be saved and the line aligned, why not a 188-year-old fire temple?”
The petitioners had submitted, as part of their plea, designs prepared with the assistance of noted architect Hafeez Contractor and others that could have realigned the Metro so as not to pass under any part of the Atash Behrams. "The next steps need not be spelt out. We may appeal,” he said.
The petitioners had argued that the tunnel going under any portion of the Atash Behram’s structure would disrupt the "elaborately created earth lines and circuits underneath a consecrated fire temple of the highest degree.”