The Bombay High Court has decided to hear the matter concerning damages to heritage buildings during the construction of metro rail in South Mumbai on Friday.

The petitioners, DVM Patel and others who are trustees of the J N Petit Institute, were seeking a stay on the construction of Metro Phase-3 line around the buildings which are located in the Fort area and on D N Road till an inquiry by an independent authority is carried out to probe the vibrations from the metro tunneling that are allegedly damaging the heritage precinct.

The J N Petit Institute, a neo-Gothic Revival style building, was recently refurbished and conferred the Award of Distinction by UNESCO in 2015.

However, the 119-year-old heritage building and many similar structures in South Mumbai have shallow foundation which are about three-metre deep.

Advocate Fredun De Vitre, representing the petitioners, told the high court that the construction of the Metro Phase-3 line is being carried out right in front of the J N Petit Institute and the vibrations from the digging work have been causing damage to the building.

"We are not asking for Metro work to be totally stopped. But, it should be done in such a way that more than 100-year-old buildings are not damaged," the advocate argued.

LET US NOT GO BY EGOS

The division bench of the Bombay High Court, headed by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur, said, "We are concerned about the safety of the people living inside the buildings too. The Metro goes from the front of the high court too. It's worrying if something happens to this beautiful building," she said.

Chief Justice Chellur pointed to the Central Hall of the Bombay High Court and said, "It is an excellent hall and we can't afford to lose it. When someone asks me which is the best high court building, I say it's the Bombay High Court".

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the state authority which in partnership with private companies is constructing Metro across Mumbai, has said that the vibrations are within the permissible limits.

Advocates De Vitre and Ferzana Behramkamdin argued against the MMRDA's version. The court has decided to look into the plea for setting up of an independent authority. "Let's not go by egos, let's look at the safety of people," the court said but refused to stay the construction of the Metro line for the time being.

DO SOME EXERCISE, COUNT THE TREES

While hearing another petition against cutting down of trees on the Western Express Highway between Andheri and Dahisar for the Metro Line-7 construction filed by Zoru Bhathena, Chief Justice Chellur reprimanded the MMRDA.

"Why don't you do some exercise and count all (the) trees you need to cut. You keep coming with 200 or 300 or 500 trees that need to be cut," she said.

The court has already set up a committee comprising two judges who have to determine the necessity of cutting the trees and then give permissions.

The court, however, was also critical of the petitioners. "Public cannot sit over the head of the administration and supervise work. You cannot determine which blade to use, whether a tree has to be cut in morning, (or) evening. Even we cannot interfere in the work beyond a limit," the court said.

Bombay HC refuses to stay Metro construction, agrees to hear the matter on damage to heritage buildings

The petitioners argued that the vibrations from the tunneling work for the Metro Phase-III is causing damage to the J N Petit Institute, a heritage building in South Mumbai.