The rising population in Shillong, the Capital of Meghalaya, is not only troubling the living, but also the dead, as they are left grappling for burial space.With little space available in graveyards in this beautiful hill city, which is also known as the Scotland of the East, burying the dead has already became a difficult task in Shillong, where the majority of the population is Christian.
Foreseeing the problem, a cemetery in Nongthymmai area of the city has come up with the novel idea of providing the people of the area with a ‘family graveyard’.
The ‘family graveyard’ is a morgue-like room with several cubicles to hold the mortal remains of the deceased.“The mortal remains of the deceased will be exhumed from their graves in consultation with the family members and relocated to the family graveyards and the empty grave will then be allotted for burial of new bodies,” said an official of the Divine Savior Parish at Nongthymmai.
Although there was opposition to the project by the locals initially, it was later accepted and 140 parishioners have already come forward to relocate the mortal remains of their deceased family members from the graves to the ‘family graveyard’.
At present there are 240 cubicles in the ‘family graveyard’, as it is known, and each of them are allotted to one family. One can keep the mortal remains of up to 35 people in one cubicle, the official said while adding that the authorities are now planning to elevate it to a three storied structure to accommodate more cubicles.
The official said that the other graveyards in the city have no other option but to go for similar concepts in future.Shillong, which was the Capital of undivided Assam till 1972 (when Meghalaya attained statehood), was actually planned by the British as a hill resort due to its cool weather.
Perched at an altitude of 4,990 feet above sea level, it is said that the rolling hills around the town reminded the European settlers of Scotland and hence they used to call it the ‘Scotland of the East’.
The hill town has undergone substantial changes since the old days — both in character and form. In 1872 the population of Shillong was 1,368 people, which has grown to around 2.50 lakhs at present.
“We have convinced the local people about the move. One has to consider the fact that the city is growing and burial space in graveyards is now depleted. Burying the dead will be a serious problem for the people in future,” the church official said.
“The dead have been given rooms in heaven. Their souls are not in the graves. We all love them and respect them, but we must also think about those alive,” the official explained
Asked about the funding for the family graveyard, the official said that the funds were raised through donations from the parishioners.