St Peter’s Seaside Cemetery and Bene Israel Jewish cemetery | Photo credit: Manoj Ramakrishnan
Mumbai: Members of St Peter’s Church, Bandra, have asked for modification of the Development Plan, which includes a proposed road that will displace graves at the St Peter’s Seaside Cemetery.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation withdrew a demand notice for the land issued in January 2023 after protests by church members. Though the BMC has clarified that the road plans are on hold, the fact that the road still exists in the DP has created concerns among church members that the cemetery will lose land to the road anytime.
The cemetery is located on Kadeshwari Mandir Road and is used by St Peter’s Church, Hill Road. Apart from the Christian cemetery, the road could cut through a Jewish burial ground on the opposite side.
Father Frazer Mascarenhas, former principal of St Xavier’s College and former parish priest at St Peter’s Church, said the demand notices were withdrawn after protests and a legal reply. “However, the Development Plan road is still on paper, which means anytime they can wake up and reissue a demand notice,” said Mascarenhas.
Members of the church said they wanted the DP modified and the road plans dropped. “After protests, the demand notice was withdrawn in March. Though we had asked them to change the DP to exclude the road plans, they have not done so,” said Brian D’Souza, a member of St Peter’s parish pastoral council and Bombay Catholic Sabha.
D’Souza added that a parallel DP road could be an alternative to the plans to displace graves. “There are encroachments on the parallel road and this road should be sufficient “
Sunil Rathod, Chief Engineer, Development Plan, BMC, said that the sanctioned proposed Development Plan, which initially included a path through the graveyard, was halted following objections and repeated requests from residents.
“Currently, there is no road widening work underway. Had such work been planned, residents would have been duly notified. At present, the BMC does not intend to proceed with the widening. While the BMC, as the acquiring authority, has the authority to acquire land as needed, any objections from residents will be carefully considered. For now, there are no plans to move forward with this development plan.”
Mascarenhas said that there was no need to take land from an old cemetery when an 18.5 feet-wide parallel road was available a few metres away. He said that the cemetery was more than a century old and laying a road through it will mean exhumation of graves and reburial of the remains.
“The road plans were made without looking at the sentiments and the need for Christian burial space. St Peter’s Church acquired the land for burials. We are facing a scarcity of burial space and they are taking away what we have. It is a serious matter for Catholics,” Mascarenhas added.
