Mumbai, Aug 28: A meeting was held on Monday evening with BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani which was attended by trustees, committee members, Member of Parliament Sanjay Dina Patil, and senior Congress leader Mohammad Arif Naseem Khan, to address issues related to the cemeteries in Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, and Govandi.
During the meeting, the Municipal Commissioner’s attention was drawn to the inconvenience caused to visitors of the Ghatkopar cemetery due to the lack of a separate access route for the Kalpataru Developers’ Amenity Building, which was approved by the municipality. It was emphasized that a separate path should be arranged to prevent difficulties for those visiting the cemetery.
Another critical issue discussed was the shortage of space in the Ghatkopar cemetery due to burials from other areas. This shortage sometimes forces premature digging of graves. To address this, the long-standing demand to allocate the adjacent 80,000 square feet recreational ground to the cemetery was reiterated, with a call to expedite the process without further delay.
Regarding the lack of a cemetery in Vikhroli, Mohammad Arif Naseem Khan highlighted the issue, describing it as a clear injustice to the Muslims of Vikhroli, and urged for an immediate resolution. Additionally, there was a demand to address the problem of sinking land and waterlogging at the Deonar cemetery by adding new soil. Deonar cemetery trustee Abdul Rahman stated that the issue at Deonar would only be fully resolved by developing a second plot, as adding soil is not a permanent solution.
Commissioner Gagrani assured that these issues would be resolved on a priority basis and instructed his subordinate officers to assess the situation.
