Panaji: A petition has been filed in the Bombay high court citing the lack of a kabrastan for people from St Cruz, Merces and Bambolim.The petition, mentioned before the court on Tuesday, states that across Tiswadi taluka, there are only three kabrastans — St Inez, Chimbel and Goa Velha — and that the Chimbel and Goa Velha burial grounds are under the control of private societies that allow burials only for their members.Advocate Yogesh Nadkarni, appearing for the petitioner Anjuman Ahle Sunnat Islahul Muslemeen Trust, told the division bench that burials from St Cruz, Merces and Bambolim were earlier permitted at the St Inez kabrastan. However, he said that last year, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) passed a resolution prohibiting the burial of persons from outside its jurisdiction, allowing only residents of Panaji and Taleigao.Nadkarni told the court that recently, a family faced difficulty in finding a burial place for an 80-year-old woman and eventually buried her at a private kabrastan in Vasco.He said burials had been allowed at St Inez since pre-Liberation times, but the CCP has now taken a contrary stand.The high court has listed the petition for hearing on July 27.
