Mumbai: After concerns among Parsi-Zoroastrians that the 'Parsi Gate' on Marine Drive, which was dismantled for construction of the Mumbai Coastal Road, will not have access to the sea, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has clarified that concrete tetrapods will not be installed below the gate.
Parsis who visited the site recently said that a mud embankment and tetrapods will block seawater from reaching the steps. They have said that a metal plaque that commemorated the history of the site is missing and the site littered with garbage. There are also complaints that the steps leading down from the gate are narrow.
BMC assures Parsi community of unimpeded sea access near Parsi Gate amid construction | File Photo
The gate, consisting of two obelisks carved out of Malad stone, is dedicated to Yazata Ardevi Sur Anahita, the Avestan deity of the waters. The gates were dismantled in April 2021 and have been reinstalled north of the original site.
Though the site is associated with the Parsis, Jehangir Patel, editor of 'Parsiana' magazine, said there are no documents linking it to the community. However, there are reports that the obelisks were installed in 1915 by philanthropist Shapoorji Pallonji and Bhagojiseth Keer.
The dismantling of the monument had upset the Parsi-Zoroastrian community which used the site for religious rituals associated with water. Havovi Sukhadwala, who had started an online petition in 2020 to save the site, said that union environment and tourism ministries allowed the BMC and the state chief to make changes in the Marine Drive Water Front which is a grade II B precinct in the city's list of protected heritage structures.
BMC assures Parsi community of unimpeded sea access near Parsi Gate amid construction | File Photo
Chotta Chowpatty disappears below the Coastal Road
Parsis who worshipped at the gate remember a small stretch of natural beach called Chhota Chowpatty, which was a place of worship for Parsees and Hindus and others, particularly on poonam days and Avan Roj every month. Dr Viraf Kapadia, member of the Bhikha Behram Well Trust, said that the BMC should create a pavilion linking the gate to the sea. “We have to see the sea when we do the prayers. We are worried that we will be facing the tetrapods,” said Kapadia.
M M Swami, Deputy Executive Engineer in the Mumbai Coastal Road project said that the shore along the Parsi Gate will not have tetrapods. Swami said that the debris and mud at the site will be removed to provide a clear view of the sea from the pillars. “The steps will go right up to the sea and the water will touch the lower steps,” said Swami.
