Community Call:
Restoring Infrastructure & Green Cover Of Our Most Holy and Serene Doongerwadi
For over 300 years now, our Community’s most sacred Dokhma in Mumbai, Doongerwadi (Estb. 1672), which is spread over 55 acres, atop the Malabar Hills area, has been unparalleled in terms of providing solace, serenity and according respect to the deceased as well as mourners.
As one of our oldest and most holy structures maintained by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, the Doongerwadi is in need of internal renovation as well as external restoration. In the recent past, the BPP has successfully carried out the effective renovation of the Gamadai Boys Hostel as a Joint Project with the Community. Once again, the BPP invites the active participation of our generous Community members for this most noble and ambitious undertaking – the renovation and repair of our most sacred Doongerwadi.
In keeping with the special place that Doongerwadi holds in our hearts, participation in this Community Project aiming to Restore and Beautify Doongerwadi, will be a great opportunity to give back to this beautiful institution by Community members, who have, at one point or another, hailed or witnessed the services, tranquility and healing it offers to those mourning by the loss of loved ones. Here is our opportunity to be a part of the history of restoring one of our most sacred structures of all.
Repairs Are Needed In The Following Areas:
I. ALL BUNGLIES Are In Need Of INTERNAL And EXTERNAL REPAIRS Including:
- Painting
- Flooring
- In rooms where relatives reside for four days for the prayers, there is a need to install false ceilings (as the height of the original roof is too high) to reduce the air-conditioning cubic area to save power.
- Refurbishing toilet and bathroom areas
- Providing air-conditioners for the living areas in the Bunglies
- Electrical wiring and installing new power-efficient fixtures
- Change and revamping the Plumbing
- Providing facilities including refrigerators, hot-plates, etc
- Improvement of infrastructure of the rooms in the Bunglies to provide convenience during the 4-day stay for mourners in terms of decent furniture, mattresses, beds, bed-sheets, crockery, air-conditioning, etc
II. Maintenance of the DOKHMAS
III. ROAD REPAIRS:
- Particularly the roads leading from the Bungli to the Dokhma
- The road leading from the Main Gate (entrance) to the Upper and Lower Bunglies
IV. INCREASING the GREEN COVER – particularly along the Dokhmas and the compound walls
V. Repairing the Toilets and other areas of common use
VI. Tiling of bathrooms and walls where needed
The BPP has planned the systematic repair and restoration of the Doongerwadi in Phases, and the target amount needed to be raised for the First Phase or Phase 1 is Rs. 50 lakhs. As per the funds collected, the operations of Phase 1 will be further divided into sub-phases, giving priority to areas that need restructuring more urgently.
The BPP invites Community members and organisations to be part of and contribute towards the Community’s most integral ‘Restore & Beautify Doongerwadi Community Project’. Community members will be updated and involved across various phases, which will call for specific needs including monetary donations, non-monetary donations (donating products/services) and volunteering personally. All donations will be formally acknowledged (citations, recorded on plaques, etc.) in different areas
