No dignity for the dead

CHENNAI: The final journey and last rites of a human being should be done with dignity. Whether cremation or the process of burial, and irrespective of faith, the responsibility of creating and maintaining that space rests solely with the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC).

But those who have availed the services of the Corporation-maintained crematoriums and/or burial grounds in the city, narrate a tale of woe that has nothing to do with the grief of losing a loved one.

Overcharging, heaps of garbage, overgrown vegetation, non-functional furnaces and lack of maintenance – you name it, and almost every burial ground and crematorium is riddled with it. DT Next visited some of them in the city that have not seen any maintenance for a long time.

What modernisation?

The Corporation had supposedly modernised burial grounds with LPG facilities in the city. However, due to lack of maintenance the furnace is not functional. The bodies are burnt using firewood or buried for the lack thereof. In another scenario, caretakers of Otteri burial ground cremate the bodies in the electrical furnace in front of the relatives. But later, they remove and burn the corpse with another body in firewood,” fumes Ramaboopathy, a resident of Otteri.

Unlike other graveyards in the area, this burial ground has basic facilities. But families claim that workers pretend to carry out rituals and cremate/bury at a separate place, as there were insufficient chambers to cremate bodies. “Furnace is never cleaned. There’s ash remaining from the previous cremation, and yet, workers cremate other bodies along with it. That the ashes of your loved one might contain another’s is quite a possibility here,” he adds.

Due to lack of space in certain burial grounds, workers bury bodies atop one another after the rituals are completed. Additionally, caretakers of these grounds bury dead animals too, and do not carry out maintenance work.

Residents have filed multiple complaints to the civic body but in vain. If no steps are taken in the coming days, activists and residents of the neighbourhood plan to stage a protest.

In north Chennai, at least four burial grounds were handed over to a private contractor but there has been no sign of maintenance for the last six months. In the case of Kasimedu burial ground, the Corporation converted it into LPG cylinder cremation, but it is not functional.

“They should keep 21 cylinders but when they don’t have it, workers use firewood. This increases pollution in the residential areas. Additionally, they overcharge the relatives. Despite that, sometimes the bodies are only half burnt,” said Ward 38 Councillor Nethaji U Ganesan. “Also, the ground lacks basic facilities like exhaust fans and drinking water facilities. Though many complaints have been raised to the contractor no steps were taken.”

Relatives fleeced

‘Cremation is free; do not pay tips’ reads the display sites at every Corporation-maintained grounds in the city. However, caretakers demand hefty charges ranging from Rs 2,000-10,000 to use in firewood, LPG, and electrical crematorium and carry out rituals.

People are forced to pay the fee to avoid unnecessary arguments during their times of grief. “Agencies are involved in carrying out rituals for different castes and communities in Puzhuthivakkam burial ground. The ground has been converted with facilities to cremate the bodies quickly, unlike the previous years. However, the middle-men charge Rs 1,000-1,500 for carrying out the procedure despite a board stating free of charge,” lamented Seenu Sethuraman, a resident of Madipakkam.

Similarly, after the civic body converted the grounds with LPG and electrical facilities, the usage of firewood has reduced. Only the residents of the neighbourhood are allowed to cremate bodies in the burial ground. “If you’re not a resident, they would charge over Rs 10,000. At times, they’re forced to pay Rs 20,000 which does not even cover the rituals. As if losing a loved one is not painful enough, caretakers of the grounds add to the grief,” rued Parthiban, a resident of Thoraipakkam.

Buried in garbage

Several burial grounds have become garbage disposal spots, especially since the local body uses the ground as collection and transfer point for garbage in the city.

Residents are no longer using the burial ground for its intended purposes, and are forced to travel at least 5 kilometres for the final journey of their loved ones.

D Neelakannan, president of Madhavaram Residents’ Welfare Association stated that the solid waste conservancy workers use the grounds for waste segregation. “The grounds are not functional in Madhavaram and Puzhal. The graveyards were used by residents for several decades. Now that they’re shut down for garbage segregation, residents have no choice but to use other burial grounds,” he added.

Though sanitary workers have been collecting garbage and waste door-to-door, they end up dumping them in the burial ground. Conservancy workers use the ground as a collection and transfer point, which wouldn’t be a problem if they clean up after. The ground has remained dirty and unclean for the past few years.

Residents and civic activists urge the civic body authorities to ensure proper maintenance and restore the burial ground with basic facilities.

Contractors likely to be penalised

There are 208 burial grounds under the corporation limit, and it has been maintained by outsourcing it to private contractors. Of these, 42 graveyards are converted into LPG cylinders and electrical crematoriums. The civic body has planned to modernise the remaining sites with LPG facilities under the Singara Chennai 2.0. Dr M Jagadeesan, GCC’s city health officer, stated that the grounds are being modernised into LPG and electrical crematoriums to reduce pollution in residential areas caused by using firewood for cremation. “If any maintenance work is being carried out in the graveyards, we would issue prior notice to the public to use the nearby grounds. We’ve not received any complaints regarding charges in free sites maintained by the corporation. But we will check and steps would be taken against contractors immediately if these allegations were proven true,” he added.