Saturday, October 07, 2017

'Reduce no-fly zone over towe of silence'

The Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP) is in a flutter over a request to revise flying restrictions near the Tower of Silence at Doongerwadi in Malabar Hill. The Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd (MADCL) has put forth a proposal to the Collector to reduce the 'no fly zone' around the Tower from 1 nautical mile (NM) to 500 metres.
The proposal, which would require an NOC from the Parsi community, states that if the prohibited area around the Tower is realigned by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), it would enable helicopters to use the path in emergencies and disaster situations.
This is obviously a sensitive issue for the Parsi-Irani-Zoroastrian community. In a letter to the Collector dated September 27, the BPP has said, "It's in this place that our dear departed are laid to rest and the open air space above this area is critical for continuation of our long established and time tested method of the dead. We may point out that both in terms of visibility as well as affecting the bird (vulture) population over this area, this would be a critical concern for our community."
It is due to these concerns that the Board of Trustees has not yet given their consent to the proposal.
The BPP plans to arrange a meeting between AAI officials and high priests and scholarly priests to discuss the issue. "By reducing the limits of the nofly zone, those flying on choppers would be able to see inside the tower of Silence and this is prohibited in our community," said Yazdi Desai, chairman, BPP.
07/10/17  Linah Baliga/Mumbai Mirror
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