The Parsi community has raised alarm over the crumbling National Highway, NH-48. The highway is their only route to the sacred Iranshah Atash Behram in Udvada, Gujarat. A report has revealed that the Bombay Parsi Punchayet urged Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to act. They called the road a “death trap,” especially dangerous for the elderly.
The stretch between Mumbai and Talasari at the Maharashtra-Gujarat border is the only viable route to Udvada from Mumbai and Pune. However, the BPP believes it’s fraught with risk.
The community timed its appeal to coincide with the third death anniversary of former Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry. He died in a car crash on the same highway three years ago while returning from Udvada.
The route is the only direct road link from major cities in western India to a coastal town that houses a sacred fire temple, central to Parsi worship. The trust said the crumbling highway is not just a matter of inconvenience but a serious threat to safety.
The trust said the issue has been raised repeatedly since the tragedy and highlighted that, in addition to potholes and broken stretches, there is also a lack of traffic regulation, with large vehicles often seen driving on the wrong side.
One trustee told a media outlet that the pilgrimage to the sacred fire is equivalent to a holy journey in other faiths. He said the majority of Parsis who visit the site travel from cities such as Mumbai and Pune, and that the highway through a key junction is their only access. According to him, what once took around three hours now takes nearly six.
Local Parsis in the pilgrimage town said the road conditions affect not just religious visits but daily commutes and emergencies. They said they have been demanding restoration of the highway to its original state.
Another senior priest claimed he raised the issue with elected officials. He was promised repairs would begin after the monsoon. He clarified that while internal roads in the town are in good condition, the highway leading is in urgent need of repair.
The priest added that monthly visits by Parsis for a key religious observance have declined slightly. He said around 100–200 visitors usually come each month from Mumbai and nearby cities, but road conditions have discouraged some. With major festivals now over, numbers are temporarily down.
A local Parsi couple said they worry about medical emergencies. The wife recalled that her husband had previously survived two heart attacks thanks to timely ambulance access when roads were better. Now, she said, reaching the nearest hospital takes over an hour, and some residents are even taking longer detours to avoid dangerous stretches.
Another Parsi resident, who runs a hotel, told the media house that the memory of the fatal accident still affects the community. He noted that many elderly visitors from Mumbai have avoided coming this year. Weekend homes are going unused, and hotel business has dropped significantly this season.
In a letter, the Parsi trust stated that the community is asking only for basic rights, which include safe roads and secure travel. It warned that lives are at risk due to poor road conditions and what it described as deliberate negligence by contractors.
A local elected representative said that permanent repairs using a white-topping method would begin once the rains stop. He explained that earlier fixes using patchwork material often fail in the monsoon. The plan is to resurface the entire stretch from a nearby junction to the state border using concrete for durability.
He added that temporary repairs are continuing during dry spells, especially at key choke points. He said dedicated teams have been stationed at known bottlenecks to carry out immediate patchwork when possible.
He also said broader development plans are in motion for the pilgrimage town, including the formation of a local development body and efforts to promote it as a tourist destination. Plans are being considered to widen roads under the local administration, with full support from the Parsi community.
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