Soldiers’ final resting place falls victim to official apathy

Madras War Cemetery was inundated following the recent rain

Chennai, 04/12/2017 : The Madras War Cemetery situated at Nandambakkam, Chennai which was created to receive second world war graves is inundated with storm water due to recent rains. Photo : S. R. Raghunathan

One of the city’s landmarks, the Madras War Cemetery in Nandambakkam, was closed for nearly 20 days after it was inundated with rainwater.

The cemetery was created by the then Imperial War Graves Commission to honour soldiers of the Commonwealth nations, including India, who lost their lives during the world wars.

The commission was renamed the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and it manages the sprawling cemetery, one of the major tourist attractions in the city. The 2.75 acres on which the cemetery stands was given to the CWGC under perpetual lease by the Defence Ministry.

Restoration work

N. Rajarajan, manager of CWGC, Madras War Cemetery, said, “Since it is located in a low-lying area, rainwater flows down. We had to close the facility for a couple of weeks since it was inundated. The landscape was damaged due to flooding. Every time this happens, we have to pump out water using our own resources and undertake restoration work.”

The CWGC has on numerous occasions appealed to the authorities to lay a culvert for draining water but there has been no response. Meanwhile, the Department of Highways has sought a five-metre stretch along the premises for its road expansion project.

The Madras Memorial of the First World War is situated at the rear of the Madras War Cemetery. It bears the names of 1,039 servicemen, who died in the conflict and whose graves lie in many civil and cantonment cemeteries in various parts of India. The cemetery also contains 856 graves of Commonwealth soldiers and a few officers, who died in the Second World War.