An acute lack of space has forced Christian ceme-teries in New Delhi to reuse graves after five years, with a Catholic priest advocating that Christians opt for crema-tion. The Indian Christian Cemetery Committee that manages two cemeteries for various Christian deno-minations in New Delhi, announced that from Sept. 1 burial plots to families of the deceased will be given only for five years.
Reverend Samson R. Nath, the committee chairman said this was because “very soon we will have no space to bury our dead.”
He said requests to the Delhi government for more land for use as cemeteries have not been successful.
“Asking people to opt for cremation will be the last resort when we will have no other choice. It is a very sensitive issue,” said Reve-rend Nath, a Methodist. The lack of space for Christian and Muslim graveyards has been a growing concern in Delhi and other Indian cities, the Delhi high court in July observed. As the population increased, the death rate also increased but cemetery land remained the same.
