The top court in India’s commercial capital Mumbai (formerly Bombay) has restrained a suburban civic body from converting designated burial grounds for other purposes.
The Bombay High Court in western Maharashtra state on July 19 asked the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) “not to use the land designated as a burial ground in the city development plan for any other purpose.”
The court order came in a plea filed by a group of Christians in the city.
“It is a major victory for the Christians who live in the suburban civic body limits,” said Melwyn Fernandes, the lead petitioner in the case.
Fernandes, a Catholic activist, told UCA News on July 21 that the local Christian community has been facing a severe shortage of burial grounds after many of its designated cemeteries “were encroached on by builders and influential people with the backing of politicians.”
Land is very expensive in Mumbai and the city and its suburbs are prone to illegal encroachments by land sharks.
The megacity of some 21 million people on the coast of the Arabian Sea houses the most expensive real estate projects in the country and attracts millions of immigrants from across the nation.
“I filed an application under the Right to Information Act, a special law empowering citizens to seek information from the government, to get details of burial grounds meant for Christians,” Fernandes said.