Wadala to get a new cemetery for city’s Chinese community
An image of the existing cemetery at Antop Hill. Courtesy: Panoramio.com
Mumbai’s 3,500 strong Chinese community’s decade long struggle has come to an end after the BMC agreed to the construction of a new Chinese cemetery.
Mumbai is home to a small, but thriving, Chinese community since decades. But, the community has been going through a tough time since the last few years over the resting place for their departed.
Until now, the Chinese only had one cemetery in the city where they could lay their dead to rest. Located at Antop Hill, the Chinese burial ground was constructed over 127 years back and in currently in a state of disarray.
With 80 percent utilized capacity, the Chinese have no option but to remove the bones five years after the burial and move the tombstone to another ground across the road.
But after years of struggle with the city’s civic body over finding a suitable plot and releasing the amount necessary for the construction, the Maharashtra Chinese Association has finally got the go ahead for a new cemetery in Mumbai’s Wadala (E) area.
The new 8,500 sq.ft plot will act as the final resting place for Chinese from Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. In addition to the burial place, it will also house a prayer room where Chinese can offer prayers for their departed on All Souls’ Day and Chinese New Year.
The construction on the new cemetery has already began.
