Grave concern: Dead too face space crunch in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The burial grounds in the city, especially those of the Christian community, are running out of space. With this, the members of the community are finding it difficult to find a place for the burial of their loved ones. Further, the situation at some burial grounds has turned so bad that the partially decomposed bodies have to be dug out to accommodate the new ones.

It is learnt that recently around eight bodies have arrived for burial at Malakpet burial ground. However, with the space crunch, the bodies had to be shifted to other grounds. But, even there too, the family members of the deceased had to request the management of burial ground to accommodate the bodies in old graves. With space running out, questions are being raised as to where to bury if someone dies? Rather than the grief of loss of their loved ones, finding no place for the burial is causing more grief to the family members.

In the city, there are a few Christian burial grounds in Malakpet, Amberpet, Narayanguda, Santosh Nagar, Chaderghat, Dilsukhnagar and LB Nagar. Most of these are already filled and no space is left. Though the leaders of the community have been demanding the State government to allocate space for the burial ground, there has been no response from it.

A member of the Christian community from Narayanguda, Joshua Emmanuel said, "In most of the areas, the burial grounds of various churches in the city are filled with graves, making it difficult to find a place for burial."

Another member Samuel said, "We will have to wait for two to three days until the place is found. Until then, many express concern over the body being kept at home. Most of the times, it becomes inevitable to dig up an old grave to accommodate the new body."

Although the issue was raised in the Assembly, till now no announcement has been made by the authorities to provide land or enough space for the Christian burial ground. "Earlier, the government has announced allotment of 67 acres in Rangareddy district, but the land has not been handed over so far," said Naya Kullu, a Christian community leader.