CHENNAI: The century-old St Mary’s Christian cemetery in Mandaveli belongs to the Chennai Corporation, but only on paper. In reality, the church, which was given the responsibility to maintain the cemetery, gets no help from the Corporation in keeping it clean. The problem arises as the agreement signed between both parties has not been renewed since it expired in March 2014.
The matter dates back to 1996 when an agreement was signed between the Mylapore Archdiocese and the civic body for the former to take over the day-to-day maintenance of the cemetery while getting basic assistance from the local body. In turn, the archdiocese made the Lady of our Guidance Church in Santhome, the cemetery’s caretaker.
Though repeated requests were made to the local body over the last four years to renew the agreement, no action has been taken, said the parish priest of the church. “Streetlights inside the cemetery haven’t been functioning for the past month. To clear the dried shrubs, garlands and other green waste, the Corporation needs to send an earth mower. But, we receive no assistance from them even after repeated complaints,” he said.
The church allocates Rs 40,000-Rs 50,000 from the donations they receive from patrons to manage the cemetery on a daily basis. When Express visited the cemetery, the manager, caretaker and three gravediggers present said that complaints regarding garbage collection, disposal, and dysfunctional street lights were ignored by the local body.
“Especially after All Souls Day (November 2), there are plastic bags, candles, flowers and food strewn across the cemetery. But, Corporation doesn’t make any arrangements to collect the waste. Even when the contract was in place, we got no assistance from them,” said the manager.
Due to this, the collected waste was often burned inside the cemetery which caused inconvenience to residents who live nearby. “Burning of green waste by the cemetery caretakers became a routine activity over the months. The entire locality is covered in thick smoke because of this. After I complained to the church they said they will refrain from doing this. The Corporation officials need to periodically clear the waste, so that they don’t resort to burning it again,” said Rahul Sadagopan, a resident of St Mary’s Road.
On the other hand, due to the acute dearth of space for burial at the cemetery, the church officials have identified empty plots at Perungudi and Porur. They have also submitted a proposal to the Corporation asking for permission to make use of those plots.
But, their requests have been put in the back-burner since 2017. “351 other churches across the city are directed to bury the departed here. There are over 8,000 graves here now. Usually, in a year, we get 500 bodies, but for the last two years, we have been receiving close to 750. We have no further space. From December we will have to refuse fresh burials,” said the secretary from the Cemetery Users Forum.
Local officials from Ward 124 said that waste from the cemetery will be cleaned in three days. “For changing the defunct bulbs, a large ladder is needed. But, this cannot be brought inside as the gate opening is too small. But, garbage and other plant waste around the cemetery boundaries are periodically cleared and the same will be carried out by Thursday,” said a Corporation official from ward 124.