Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the Maharashtra government and the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) for failing to develop burial grounds despite reserving land for the purpose years ago.
“Why have you not done anything in four years? Because you wanted them to be used for another purpose,” a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar remarked, asking why the burial ground, which requires minimal work like leveling, has not been developed.
The court directed the state to ensure that the 37,000-sqm plot at Bhayander Pada, earmarked for a Sanyukta Smashanbhumi (multi-faith cemetery) and Smruti Udyan (memorial garden), is used only for the purpose “for which it has been reserved”.
The court also directed TMC to fence the plot and “secure it from illegal encroachments”, with a project plan to be submitted before the next hearing.
The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Thane resident Melwyn Fernandes, who alleged that the TMC had handed over the burial ground plot to Balaji Enterprises for a luxury housing project. It was reserved for burial ground via a March 2017 notification. However, Balaji’s counsel Kailas Dewal refuted the claim.
While TMC’s advocate submitted that the land was in possession of the civic body and that work on the burial ground was ongoing, the petitioner’s counsel Sunita Banis disputed this, arguing the site was being misused for construction-related purposes such as stacking building materials, parking lot and certain other ancillary activities.
The TMC argued that part of the land fell within a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and could not be developed. The court retorted, “If it is falling in SEZ, then why did you reserve it for a burial ground? What steps have you taken to deserve it and use it for a purpose permissible in SEZ?”
The petitioner highlighted other instances of misuse of land reserved for cemeteries, including slum encroachments and use of plots for purposes like weddings. Banis submitted that complaints were filed but no action was taken by TMC, which cited the matter as being subjudice.
The court directed the state to file an affidavit on the current status of all reserved cemetery plots within TMC’s jurisdiction and steps taken to develop them. It emphasised that the demand for burial grounds may have increased over time and ordered TMC to detail the progress on all reserved plots.
“It does not require knowledge of rocket science to know that the city lacks sufficient grounds for burial,” the court said. The HC has kept the matter for hearing on February 12.
