Six feet under but where?

CHENNAI: While the dead remain peaceful in their caskets, the process of getting them buried is traumatic, expensive and unbelievably aggravating. There are several reasons.

Firstly, burial grounds in the city, especially those maintained by the Greater City Corporation (GCC), are in a bad shape. And, secondly, the acute lack of space in them has forced people to cremate their loved one’s bodies.

Though the GCC has vehemently denied charging the family to bury or cremate corpses, there have been several incidences when the latter has had to pay a huge amount. If they don’t, they’d have a tough time getting a death certificate.

Badly maintained

Over 500 residents in Tiruvottiyur use the burial ground in Indira Gandhi Nagar. It’s in a dilapidated state and does not have a worker to carry out the process. Residents complain that it has been encroached by private commercial companies. Also, there’s no compound wall and the ground has been used to dump garbage because people had been restricted to use the ground for over two years.

“As the land belongs to the railway department, the corporation said it could not be used as a burial ground. If we go over them, and carry out the rituals and bury the dead, we’d be denied death certificates,” lamented A Arumairaj, a resident of Indira Gandhi Nagar.

That’s why grieving families pay the workers just so that they can move on from the process, and not face the hassle of running from pillar to post for death certificates. “A lot of residents in the area cannot afford take the bodies to Kasimedu burial ground, as that’s at least 5 km away,” he pointed out.

Encroachments abound

Commercial establishments and other buildings have encroached on the burial ground in Tiruvottiyur. If officials don’t remove the buildings, it’d be difficult to bury the bodies in the future.

“Despite multiple complaints filed to the civic body authorities, officials neither visited the ground nor took any steps against the issue,” added Arumairaj.

Also, residents have been asking to develop the burial ground because it lacks basic facilities such a gas-powered furnace. They’ve also requested the State government to allot new burial grounds in the city, as people are forced to cremate.

“A burial ground in Thoraipakkam, claimed as a private property, has been relocated to Perungudi. But now, it has been used only to cremate bodies, and non-Hindus are not allowed to use the services,” averred S Parthiban, a resident of Thoraipakkam. “But those who want to bury don’t have an option because of lack of space in the burial ground, and they cannot wait for a long time. People from nearby villages and faraway districts take their loved one’s body through an ambulance or arrange for a vehicle to take them to their respective towns.”

In Thoraipakkam, Christians and Muslims have separate burial grounds, as the public is worried that they would not be able to follow their religious beliefs to bury their loved ones.

St Mary’s cemetery

Workers in the crematorium ask family members for around Rs 5,000. “Those who cannot afford it, end up borrowing from others, so that the burial process is not delayed,” rued Parthiban. “When we questioned the workers about it, they didn’t seem to care. Even the local body authorities seemed to be lethargic.”

Corpn in denial

Similarly, people in Mogappair East claim that the burial ground in the area used to charge Rs 500 in 2008. Now, it has spiked to Rs 5,000. If residents hail from other TN districts, they’re charged higher.

KV Thilakar, council member of Ward 92, mentioned that wine shops have encroached upon the burial ground. These shops have registration, licenses and other legal documents approved by the government, whereas hardware shops functioning there are yet to be registered.

“When we raised a complaint with the city corporation recently, officials said that the ground did not fall under the corporation limit. They passed the buck over to the State Housing Department and denied that it was maintained by them,” said the Thilakar.

When contacted Dr M Jagadeesan, city health officer, stated there were 202 burial grounds under the corporation limit and not a single one would charge to bury or cremate dead bodies.

“If workers at the burial grounds are asking money to conduct rituals, we’ll take strict action against them. We can also ensure that there are no encroachments near the ground. If we spot any, we’d evict them immediately,” he said.

Talking about the new burial grounds in the city, Jagadeesan mentioned that for the Christian community, the number of years to bury another body from the same family in the same space has been reduced for each category. “As of now, there are no requirements for new burial grounds. If needed steps will be taken,” he stated.