A decent burial is a phrase we use to denote interment that is carried out sufficiently well and therefore honours the memory of the departed.
If burials and cremations are carried out at a place where one can find a pile-up of garbage on any given day, where people urinate and defecate and consume alcohol, can we prefix the epithet ‘decent’ to these processes?
Now, every day, garbage-laden tricycles are wheeled into the Lakshmipuram burial ground-burning ghat in Thiruneermalai. The place is used as an open toilet and a bar. Broken alcohol bottles and and cigarette stubs are strewn around the ground. There are many thick bushes and as a result, only two tombs are visible above the unruly vegetation. The facility comes under the jurisdiction of the Thiruneermalai town panchayat.
Residents of Lakshmipuram, Thiruneermalai and Durga Nagar, Tambaram Sanatorium, say garbage collected from the neighbourhoods in tricycles are dumped at the burial ground.
Later, the garbage is transferred to a truck and dumped at Pachai Malai in Tambaram Sanatorium. This practice has been going on for nearly half-a-decade.
Every month, three or more bodies are buried or cremated at the facility.
V. Santhanam, a veteran social activist, says, “I have taken up the issue with the authorities concerned, at periodic intervals, seeking action that would prevent dumping of garbage and ensure a facelift for the facility. But, no action has been taken so far.”
Also, the ground lacks a drinking water facility, a separate spot for conducting last rites and hygienic washrooms. The approach area to the washrooms is dirty and unhygienic. The gates of the facility are used by residents of nearby areas to dry clothes. A Municipality official, who recently assumed his responsibility, says he will inspect the facility and do the needful.
