Grave crisis hits cemeteries

By NEWSCOP

Everything is shrinking in the time of recession — even space for the dead. In the last few years, graveyards in India have been facing an acute shortage of land.

According to Penzy Morgan of New Delhi’s Indian Christian Cemetery, fresh spaces are available in just two of the Capital’s seven Christian cemeteries. “The only burials taking place in these cemeteries are of family members of those whose graves are already there, and even they are being buried in layers on top of existing graves,” she says.

The problem is believed to cut across religious lines. Mehfooz Mohammad, caretaker of the Delhi Wakf Board’s mosques and graveyards, says the Capital’s Muslims need at least 10 more graveyards. “As per a 1970 gazette notification, 488 Muslim graveyards exist in Delhi. Of these, only 25-30 are in actual operation today. Many graveyards have been illegally occupied and litigation is on to get the land back,” he says.

Wadood Sajid, a Muslim cleric, attributes the space shortage to too many permanent graves. “As per Islamic law, graves should be kuchha (temporary), so as to facilitate more burials on top. However, people have not only made permanent graves, but also erected tombstones, making it difficult to bury in layers.”

This has meant for some innovative solutions. The Sewri Christian cemetery in Mumbai exhumes bodies after 18 months and places the remains in small niches that line the cemetry’ walkways. Relatives of the deceased can erect plaques or put up pictures on the niches. “We have been grappling with space shortage for a long time. The issue, in fact, became so acute that since September 2005, we have withdrawn the facility of people buying space within the cemetery. However, since the introduction of niches, a little more space is available,” says Reverend John Silas of Mumbai Diocese.

The Madras Cemeteries Board (MCB), which looks after three cemeteries in Chennai, recently started the system of multi-tier vault burial. This, after its largest cemetery at Kilpauk was partially closed for new burials in April 2005 because there was little available space. “We also introduced the practice of ash burial, where the body is cremated and the ash buried. However, that hasn’t found many takers,” says MCB secretary Bosco Alangar Raj.

The multi-tier vault system places bodies in vaults that look like bank lockers. They can be reused after 2-3 years with the remains pushed into a pit below. “We have utilized 115 vaults till date,” says MCB president Father M. Rayappa.

Even so, the problem with shrinking space for burials looks set to assume grave proportions.