BANGALORE: As far as sayings go, one needs only 3x6 ft land for a decent burial of the mortal remains of a departed soul. However, one person is defying this norm and is occupying 15 x 15 ft space at Kalpally Burial Ground.It is a well-known known fact that there is no space at various burial grounds to bury the bodies. Harischandra Ghat, Wilson Garden and Hebbal Burial Grounds are already full. There are occasions where some graves are dug up to accomodate more bodies due to lack of space.The irony of Kalpally is that there is none to keep an eye on people using excess land than required. It is quite shocking to know that neither the writer of the burial ground appointed by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) nor the grave diggers were aware of the construction of three feet wall and erection of a steel grill on the wall. “I am not aware of the construction of the wall around the grave,” said Muniraju, writer at the burial ground.It was said that the BBMP authorities came to know about the misuse of land while supervising the exhumation of an unclaimed body that was buried at this burial ground. “It was brought by Cantonment Railway police. It was said that the deceased was a Muslim. A Muslim organisation came forward to provide space at their community burial ground. The BBMP officer had asked us about the construction of wall and the steel grill,” said a grave digger on condition of anonymity.The person who occupied the excess land around the grave of his family member had even put up a gate and locked it. “People find it difficult to find space to bury bodies in Kalpally Burial Ground. We have no objection if a person uses 3x6 ft land at the burial ground but we oppose any one who occupies excess land,” said N S Ravi, president, Bharathinagar Residents’ Welfare Association.Echoing similar opinion, C Mukundan, a resident of Cox Town said that the BBMP has to take action against the offender. “How can anyone occupy 15x15 ft land just to bury one body? I want the BBMP to prevent such things in future,” said Mukundan.Meanwhile, BBMP Deputy Health Officer Suresh, said that he had informed higher authorities about the misuse of land. “One cannot take more than 3x6 ft of land to bury a body. We have stopped permitting the construction of samadhis with stones at the burial ground. I have requested my higher authorities to initiate action against BBMP employees, who failed to prevent the construction of wall and erection of steel grill. I had requested the Joint Commissioner to demolish the wall and remove the steel grill around the grave,” said Suresh.Will the BBMP authorities swing into action to avoid people from constructing walls and from installing steel grills around graves? We have to wait and watch.
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