BMC agrees to test the soil of Govandi graveyard

Harshad Kale, deputy municipal commissioner of Zone 5, has agreed to the demands of Govandi residents, including soil testing at the Rafi Nagar Kabristan. The meeting also discussed the restructuring of the cemetery and the need for more graveyard space in the area. The Development Plan lists three reserved plots, but there are challenges in acquiring and preparing them. The DMC has asked citizens to prepare a report on the required grave space in the area.

In a meeting held with Govandi residents on Thursday, Harshad Kale, deputy municipal commissioner (DMC) of Zone 5, agreed to several of their long-standing demands, the first of which was that the soil of the Rafi Nagar Kabristan be tested. The soil for this will be collected on Saturday at 11 am.

BMC agrees to test the soil of Govandi graveyard

HT had reported on June 10 that when the graves in the burial ground were dug up to make space for new bodies, the earlier bodies were found to be only partially decomposed even after 18 months, the minimum time required for decomposition. This led to the temporary closure of the graveyard.

Several explanations were proffered for the lack of decomposition, from the poor quality of the soil to the fact that these could be COVID bodies covered in polythene. A BMC health officer, however, later said that as more bodies were later found in a similar state, polythene was unlikely to be the reason.

BMC officials further furnished reports of soil-testing in 2022 and 2021, which both certified the soil as good. The DMC has also ordered soil-testing of the Bada Kabristan at Marine Lines to arrive at a standard; the results will be used as a benchmark for graveyard soil against which the next batch of soil will be tested.

The next request at the meeting, organised by local activist Shaikh Faiyaz Alam, was the restructuring of the Rafi Nagar Kabristan. Alam claimed that there was ample space for more graves, and the DMC agreed to check its feasibility.

The prime issue was the paltry number of graveyards in the area, which has a majority Muslim population. A resident questioned why the Deonar Kabristan, the other cemetery in the area, was shut “every two months”, to which the BMC health officer replied that the cemetery had reached its capacity and would be reopened after the 18-month period got over on July 21.

More graveyard space in the area, however, is on the anvil, with the Development Plan (DP) listing three reserved plots. The reservation of the first one admeasuring 9,800 square metres was recently cancelled by the state government for reasons unknown. The second plot, of 16,000 square metres, is owned by Union Carbide. The BMC has requested the corporate to hand it over in exchange for TDR, which will be discussed in a meeting next week.

The third plot, 15,800 square meters in size, is within the Deonar dumping ground. As this plot has humongous garbage heaps on it, BMC officials at the meeting estimated that it would cost around ₹200 crore and five years to get the graveyard ready. The solid waste management team, in response, offered another plot as an alternative, but as this falls in the mangrove buffer zone, it will require court permission. Kale has ordered feasibility studies for both plots.

The DMC asked the citizens themselves to prepare a report on required grave space in proportion to the predicted population of the area till at least 2034.