A team of experts from the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) that was appointed by the Bombay High Court to examine the impact of tunneling for Line 3 of Mumbai’s Metro on the Parsi agiaries in the Malabar Hill area has said that two fire temples will not be adversely affected and their structural stability will remain intact, reports The Times of India.

The 19 page report says that neither tunneling nor metro operations will affect either the Wadiaji or Anjuman atash behrams nor will the ground water quality be affected. The Kalbadevi metro station is slated to come up adjacent to the Wadiaji temple.

The report also recommends additional methods to ensure the structural integrity of the two temples. It has recommended that excavation for cut and cover should be carried out drilling line holes up to bottom and that excavation should be carried out either mechanically or by controlled blasting. It adds that the perforation would provide additional safety against vibrations.

The HC had asked the VJTI panel to conduct the study after the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) did not submit any independent study of its own to back up its statements that tunnellng would not harm the heritage structures. It had stayed the tuneling process till the report was submitted.

The MMRC in 2017 had advertised for a Parsi engineer to carry out the survey works as non-parsis are not allowed on the premises of the sacred fire temples.