“Time we unlocked”

Lamenting that no physical meeting of the trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) had taken place since the lockdown in March 2020 and work was suffering, trustees Noshir Dadrawala and Kersi Randeria decided on in-person meetings and accordingly "met about a dozen community members” at their board room on December 8, 2020. An announcement from the duo in the Parsi Times weekly of December 5 stating that they "are of the view that personal meetings should be resumed… requested other three colleagues Armaity Tirandaz, Viraf Mehta and Xerxes Dastur to confirm their presence.” Chairman Yazdi Desai is incapacitated on account of an illness. Trustee Zarir Bhathena passed away on June 24 this year. This was the first in-person meeting of the (partial) board. Weekly meetings took place over the electronic platform Zoom a few weeks after the lockdown started. Prior to the lockdown, the board met each Tuesday.
"There were about 12 community members who came to see us… perhaps nothing significant was achieved, but it is time BPP did some unlocking,” Dadrawala told Parsiana after the meeting. "There was 100% observation of safety protocols… It was a good start despite the Bharat bandh (called by certain political parties to support the farmers’ stir).”
"Zoom meetings are a waste of time…(earlier) we only discussed items of minimal relevance… We are going nowhere… The board is contending with issues that need face to face discussions… We have to discuss the forthcoming trusteeship elections, property matters… These cannot be discussed on Zoom,” Randeria told Parsiana on December 8. The duo said their co-trustee Mehta has "agreed to consider” attending at least one meeting per month in the board room. "This is truly welcome,” stated a joint WhatsApp message put out by Dadrawala and Randeria.
Tirandaz, Mehta and Dastur alleged in the Parsi Junction (PJ) of December 6 that the PT announcement by Dadrawala and Randeria was made "without their knowledge or consent… We have managed to achieve quite a lot in our Zoom meetings,” they stated. According to them, maintaining social distancing among visitors to the office "will be a nightmare.” They pointed out that Dadrawala and Randeria are happy to attend Wadia committee meetings over Zoom. The PJ announcement urged community members to stay at home, and approach them to schedule meetings on the electronic platform.
In a WhatsApp message on December 7, Dadrawala stated that Randeria and he "have been requesting for at least one ‘in-person’ meeting since August 2020. There are several emails to that effect on record.” He stated that "finally, the two of us decided that we will not attend any more Zoom meetings unless at least one meeting per month is conducted in the BPP board room. This was made clear to the board in a recent mail.”
Dadrawala stated that "unlike in the case of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Indian Companies Act 2013, there is no official circular or notification from the Maharashtra State Law and Judiciary Department or the office of the Charity Commissioner regarding validity of decisions made or resolutions passed at Zoom meetings. Validity of Zoom meetings is still ambiguous and debatable at the office of the Charity Commissioner… It was willy-nilly acceptable during total lockdown but in the unlocking phase it is arguable… Randeria and I are not forcing or compelling anyone to visit us. We are simply saying that we will make ourselves available to talk to members of the public in case there is no board meeting in the board room.”

From l: Noshir Dadrawala, Kersi Randeria, Viraf Mehta

After the arterial Ridge Road partially collapsed due to heavy rains during this year’s monsoon (see "On a slippery hill,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, October 7-October 20, 2020), the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) requested the BPP to allow them to lay temporary water pipes and electricity cables through the Tower of Silence property. This led to anonymous WhatsApp messages alleging that Doongerwadi was under threat of a takeover by the municipality. BPP’s chief executive officer Aspi Sarkari issued a letter to the community on December 4 stating, "There is no intention to sell any inch” of the property. The board is considering proceeding legally against those who spread false information, it read.
Sarkari clarified that the apex trust allowed the BMC to lay temporary overground water pipes and electricity cables to supply water and electricity to areas in D ward that were affected by the collapse of the Road. The trustees also permitted aerial survey of the collapsed area via drones to ensure that "only the damaged portion where the landslide occurred was recorded.” The letter stated that once repairs were completed, "all temporary pipelines laid by the BMC will be removed.”
Sarkari pointed out that trustees "Mehta and Dastur, along with Doongerwadi manager Vistaspar Mehta were physically present with BMC’s drone team as a safeguard. Furthermore, Mehta was personally standing alongside the drone operator to ensure that only the damaged portion where the landslide occurred was recorded and nothing more.” Sarkari confirmed that "a copy of the drone recording was immediately taken by the BPP and kept safely for its record.”
On the next day came another missive signed by Dadrawala and Randeria, stating that the clarification of the previous day should have carried Randeria’s objection that he was against the use of drones at the Towers of Silence. The survey could and should have been done "by the regular survey method,” stated Randeria. "Allowing the drone to fly over the no-fly zone of Doongerwadi (a hard-fought victory recently) would set a precedent which could be detrimental to our future defense of the no-fly zone,” he stated. "Since Viraf Mehta was the person who pushed for allowing the drone to fly over Doongerwadi, he has forced the administration to put out the so-called clarification, which is both factually incorrect and incomplete,” Randeria alleged.
Dadrawala clarified that he had given the consent to allow the drones. "I accept that it was a personal lapse on my part in not keeping in mind that the entire Doongerwadi property and not just the dakhmas are a no-fly zone.”