Two Fire Temples and a Metro: Contesting Infrastructures in Mumbai

Abstract

Mumbai is one of the world’s megacities often depicted through its intensely crowded suburban trains and hours-long traffic jams. The city is now in the midst of a huge transport infrastructural scheme to build a north-south underground metro seen as vital to relieve the congestion of the colonial-era commuter train, which carries seven million passengers every day. Yet, the backlash against the construction has been virulent, from environmental groups and particularly from one micro community, the Parsis (Indian Zoroastrians), who learnt that the Metro line was planned to run beneath two of their oldest and most sacred temples. This article will explore the claims, legitimating narratives, and legal authority of these competing civic and sacred urban infrastructures.