Greater Visakhapatnam faces acute shortage of burial grounds

Visakhapatnam: Newly emerging colonies and expanding residential areas in Greater Visakhapatnam are now facing a severe shortage of burial grounds and crematoriums, forcing families to travel long distances to poorly maintained ghats for the final rites. Many of these sites lack facilities such as water, shelter, and lighting.With a population of 28 lakh, the city has been expanding towards Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Aganampudi, Lankelapalem, and Anakapalli on the Vijayawada highway. The city's civic body has been spending crores of rupees on various beautification projects, but burial grounds remain neglected. Of the 225 burial grounds across the city, 40% lack water supply facilities and washrooms, while 30% have no proper place for grieving relatives to stand during the final rites.City chief medical officer Naresh Kumar said sanitation is being addressed, and death certificates are being issued. GVMC authorities admitted proposals for new burial grounds after the city's second merger with the outskirt areas, but none have materialised.Interestingly, there is no single wing of GVMC to take care of these burial grounds. The town planning department would designate and notify new sites for burial grounds, the engineering wing would take up works in the existing ones, and the medical wing would issue the death certificates.The majority of burial grounds lack a compound wall, and most of the lands have already encroached upon them. Even after repeated pleas by the locals, the authorities are not fully focused on the issue. "We were forced to perform the final rites of our grandmother at MVP Colony, around 7 km away from Madhurawada, last week, as the locals treat the burial ground as being for their village people and not the adjacent colonies," a techie, K Muralikrishna, alleged. Lack of planning for the smashan ghats in new areas creates problems for residents. Most of the newly developed colonies, more than 100 in the vicinity of Madhurawada, Kommadi, and other places, lack designated land for last rites. More than 70 burial grounds across the city have been facing encroachments.