Amid Mumbai’s struggle for space, a few Parsis are clamouring for the meaningful use of the premises of the Parsi Lying-in Hospital at Fort. The facility opened as a maternity hospital in 1895 but has been defunct for the past three decades. A retired naval officer has now requested the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, the custodian of the property, to hand it over to the Tata Memorial Centre.

Spread over 17,000 square feet, the Parsi Lying-in Hospital is one of the oldest maternity homes in the city, built especially for Parsi women. Former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s husband Feroze Gandhi was born here. While the Punchayet had tried to revive the hospital and invited tenders a few years ago, its faced opposition from a section of the community.