Land For Cemetery: Mumbai Catholic Forum Threatens Agitation

MUMBAI, Maharashtra, APR. 28, 2008, 17.20 Hrs (SAR News):

Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), a Mumbai-based community NGO, has taken up the cause of Christians who have no cemetery to bury their dead, in the entire belt from Dahisar to Jogeshwari.

For over three years, the Christian community has been raising the issue with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (Greater Bombay Municipal Corporation) and the State government, seeking land for burials, but to no avail.

Christian representatives from different denominations then formed a United Christian Forum and approached the authorities who turned a deaf ear to their grievances.

However, after much pressure, the government allotted about 19,000 square metres of land at Akurli in Kandivali East, Vadarpada, but it was also used by other communities to bury their dead as there was no boundary wall.

Now, Christians who were to get 4,325 square metres for a cemetery are left with less than 30 per cent of the land, most of which is unusable, according to CSF general secretary, Joseph Dias.

The Christians then approached the CSF, which raised the issue with the Maharashtra Minorities Commission, visiting the site along with the Commission vice-chairman Dr. Abraham Mathai.

The Catholic Forum called upon the authorities to allot a neighbouring plot to compensate for the loss of land and develop a cemetery there.

As an interim solution, it suggested that the BMC erect a temporary fence and provide for a separate gate for access to the remaining portion. If the Corporation fails to heed the demand, the CSF would launch an agitation involving all community denominations concerned, Dias told SAR News April 27.

Some major Catholic churches affected include St. Jude, Malad East, St. Joseph, Goregaon East, Our Lady of Nativity, Kandivili East, Syro Malabara Churches -- St. Mary, Malad East, and Blessed Chavara, Kandivili East.