Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta to look sympathetically into the demands of Bandra and Khar (west) residents of including a cemetery for Sunni Muslims in the draft of the Development Plan 2014-2034 that is being prepared by the civic corporation. The directions were prompted after the residents under the banner of Bandra West and Khar West Residents Association for Sunni Muslim Cemetery submitted more than 31,000 signatures for the same to the CM on Tuesday.
According to Mohammad Raisuddin, one of the initiators of the campaign that was started on May 1, Bandra and Khar residents did not have any place to bury their dead and hence some members of the community decided to start the signature campaign to ensure that the BMC included space for a cemetery for Sunni Muslims in the draft of the DP 2034. “There is a huge problem and residents have to take their dead to either the cemetery in Santa Cruz or Bandra (east), both of which are short of space. Hence we decided to approach the chief minister to intervene in the issue after collecting the signatures,” he said.
According to him, the CM immediately issued directions to the BMC commissioner to look into the demands. A copy of the letter signed by additional secretary Jitendra Wani from the CM’s office was issued to the BMC and the association.
