Aarey to lose land for cemetery

The BMC Improvements Committee on Wednesday passed a proposal deleting 5,000 sq m area of land in a No Development Zone (NDZ) at Aarey village and including the same for a Muslim cemetery.

The committee had last November vetoed a similar proposal from the state urban development department advocating modification to the NDZ for a residential zone reserved for a Muslim cemetery.

The doubts raised then were that the land will be de-reserved and subsequently used for construction under slum development scheme.

The nod from the committee came after the urban development department changed the wording of the proposal and deleted the amendment to a residential zone. The proposal comes after a five- year old demand for a cemetery from Muslim residents in the region. Congress councillor Amin Patel, a staunch supporter of the move, said, “I am happy that the proposal has been okayed finally. The Muslims in had to travel a long distance to bury the dead.”   

BJP councillor Ashish Shelar was among the most vociferous against the original proposal, said, “We never had any problems with the setting up of a cemetery. Our opposition was centred on the suggested modification to the NDZ. As the administration deleted it, we have no problems.” He added that the cemetery and burial grounds can be set up in NDZ.

Sadiq Patel, a resident at Aarey colony, welcomed the move. “Earlier we needed to travel to the cemetery at Malad. Now it will be more convenient for us.”