No space to bury, Hyderabad's Catholic cemetery puts graves up for lease

HYDERABAD: Forget about the living, even the dead are now jostling for room in the city. Given this acute shortage of burial space, the Christian Catholic Cemetery in Narayanguda as brought home a new concept, already popular in cities such as Mumbai and Bengaluru - lease graves.

Here's how the concept works. Old graves of Britishers located within the church's premises are identified and reused for leasing. The family of a deceased can 'rent' any of these graves for a period of three to five years by paying a one-time cost of Rs 2,500. After the said period, the remains can be relocated to vaults on the wall, where customary anniversary prayers can be offered.

"There are around 40 graves that are being used as lease graves. These are mostly of Britishers that have remained unclaimed over the years. Currently, all of them are occupied," said Harry, a committee member of the cemetery, adding, "Most of those opting for these graves are people who have no family grave in the city (the migrant Catholic population) or those who can't use their family graves due to more than one deaths in quick succession (a grave can be reused only after a minimum of four years)."

The Narayanguda cemetery is the first and only one offering this facility in Hyderabad at the moment. "This is an innovative idea as there is no other way to create space. Also, the fact that not many Catholics are ready to opt for cremation, makes this a great option," said a parishioner of St Joseph's Cathedral, Gunfoundry, which is in-charge of the Narayanguda cemetery.

Seconding him, the Vicar General of Hyderabad Archdiocese, Father Swarna Bernard said how there is a dire need for other cemeteries in the city to look at alternate options as well. "There is no space available to build new graves, so reusing graves is a logical alternative," he said.