Tuesday 7 January 2014

Lack of burial ground irks Christians - Hindustan Times



Lack of burial ground irks Christians

Aarefa Johari  Mumbai, August 30, 2011

When Saboo Mangadiyan’s family friend died in Malad (East) last year, he and his parish friends had to pool in their meagre resources to transport the body to the Oshiwara Christian cemetery, in the western suburbs.
The long funeral route has become a ritual for more than eight lakh Christians residing along the Western Express Highway, between Bandra and Dahisar, as there is not a single burial ground for the community in the eastern suburbs.

The two plots that the civic body had allotted for community burial grounds, in Kandivli (East) and Goregaon (East) in 1996 has not yet been handed over to the community, and activists are convinced that authorities are indifferent to their problems.
“People in my parish are poor, but we have to spend up to Rs15,000 for each funeral, as there is no cemetery nearby. Even the poor have to bury the dead,” said Mangadiyan, 50, who runs a plastic moulds manufacturing business and is an activist with the United Christian Community Centre (UCCC), the trust fighting for the acquisition of the Kandivli and Goregaon plots, for the last nine years.
Plots for community burial grounds are allotted by the civic body and then sanctioned by the state’s urban development department. “The government has been sitting on the Kandivli and Goregaon cases since the beginning of 2010,” said Simon Serrao, trustee, UCCC. He added that the Kandivli plot is being encroached upon by an adjoining graveyard belonging to another community. “Authorities have shown no will to speed up the acquisition procedure or check encroachments by demarcating a boundary.”
“Space shortage for burial grounds has become an acute problem in the state,” admitted TC Benjamin, principal secretary, urban development department. He claimed that allocation of burial grounds is top priority, but was not aware of the delay with regard to the Kandivli and Goregaon plots. Benjamin added that town planning rules in the state do not have norms for cremation or burial ground allocation. “When our development plans are revised in 2014, we will include a survey of population patterns and amenities that different communities need.”
Panvel residents have same grouse
In Panvel, both Christians and Muslims have no burial ground, though the communities have been demanding space for the past 20 years. In 2009, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) leased adjacent plots of around 4,000 sq m each in Panvel Sector 12.
However, the sanction of this plot has been stayed since last year, when 11 housing societies filed a petition in the Bombay high court. Activists claim that CIDCO has leased the land to Christian trusts for five years. “Though the lease is renewable, the agreement states that Cidco can take it back for development,” said activist John Miranda.

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Christians rally for burial ground plot - Times of India, 15/10/12

Christians to rally for cemetery - Times of India - 13/10/12

Press Release - over 4000 Christians stand together to fight for their basic right


Dear Friends
See if you can join us tomorrow for this movement
‘United Christian Community Centre fight for their basic right to a decent burial’ .

United Christian Community Centre ( UCCC ) stand together to fight for their basic right
The right to a decent burial

Date & Time: 14th Oct, 2012 at 5pm
Venue- Nativity of our Lord Church’ grounds, Off Akurli Rd, Kandivili East
On Sunday 14th Oct, around 4000 parishioners from Borivli, Kandivli & Malad have invited MP Sanjay Nirupam, MLAs Ramesh Singh Thankur and Rajwant Singh as well asthree local corporators hoping to convince them to expedite the release of the land, reserved for burial at Kandivli.
United Christian Community Centre (UCCC), a public Trust is actively working towards uniting Christians of various Churches together and creating awareness among them of their basic human and minority rights.
“More than a lakh of Christians residing along the western express highway (between the 20 kms long stretch from Dahisar to Khar east) are inconvenienced and face  hardships  for burying their dead, as there is not a single burial ground for the community” said Sherley Singh (Trustee at UCCC). Despite this fact, an allotted Christian burial space in 1997 at Kandivili East is encroached upon, due to the negligence of the BMC, in failing to construct a boundary around this space.
After UCCC demanded the clearance of these encroachments from the allotted Christian space in 2008, BMC identified an alternate plot adjacent to it and promised its development in 3 months.
“Even after our aggressive follow up from 2008 to Oct 2012, only a mere reservation change of the plot has recently happened and the acquisition and development of the Cemetery on it, still appears to be a challenge”, said Mr. P.M. John (President at UCCC)
Hence UCCC has organised a Prayer cum Gathering of all local Christians tomorrow.
The Secretary of UCCCSimon Serrao says “Unless Christians come out of their compartments and comfort zones for united prayer and participation, they will continue to be deprived of their basic rights”.
Though the BMC has a policy for composite Cemetery development for different communities together, it is not implementing it in principle and hence the Christians are deprived of such basic facilities, while its being provided to other communities.
This is clearly evident from the cremation and burial facilities being created for other communities at Aarey Colony(WEH, Goregaon East). However, the Christian burial ground was neither earmarked nor planned.
Another case is at Malad east near Shantaram talo, where a Cemetery plot reserved as per DP plan(owned by the BMC), is being gobbled up, under the guise of SRA development.
Sabu Mangadiyan (Trustee of UCCC) was quoted saying “How can BMC permit development on a existing Cemetery reserved plot, when there is a acute shortage of Christian burial spaces in the same stretch, without planning any alternative solution” ?
Though this gathering is to facilitate those public servants who have helped in pushing the reservation change, unless the Cemeteries are developed and handed over soon, the inordinate delay may compel the otherwise peace loving and taxpaying Christian citizens to come out on the streets soon.
As Francis Dias, Vice President of UCCC says “Leave aside the poor, even the middle class cannot afford to spend on long distance travel expenses for burial needs in normal weather and the hot and rainy days could be extreme for them”.

Warm Regards,

__________________________________________________________________________
Sherley Singh, Trustee  UCCC              Joachim Colaco, Trustee - UCCC
M: +91.9821035469 |                                 M: +91.9004033678 |