Integrated funeral complex to come up at Delhi’s Rohini

The civic body has invited bids for the redevelopment and landscaping of a 10-acre ground at Rohini Sector 26

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has initiated the development of a funeral complex in Rohini that will cater to Hindus, Muslims, and Christians — the Capital’s first integrated facility for the last rites of three major religions — officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

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The civic body has invited bids for the redevelopment and landscaping of a 10-acre ground at Rohini Sector 26, and has estimated that the complex will cost around ₹5.7 crores to set up.

A senior MCD official said a detailed redevelopment plan has been finalised, and two separate bids have been invited for redevelopment work worth ₹4.6 crore, adding that the three-way partitioned facility will host a modern crematorium with pollution control measures, along with separate burial grounds for Muslims and Christians which will have landscaping and air-conditioned waiting halls.

“The area has been roughly divided, with three around 3 acres for each of the three sections. An additional ₹1.12 crore will be spent on partition walls, pathways, drainage, and boundary walls. Two separate bids have been invited. The ground is expected to be redeveloped in 11 months,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.

“The site selected for the complex was provided by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and was used for the cremation of those who succumbed to Covid complications during the second wave of the disease in 2021, when the burden on traditional cremation grounds had increased,” the official added.

The new facility will also reduce the load on the Nigambodh Ghat and Punjabi Bagh crematoria, the official said.

A second official said that the new funeral complex has been based on a cremation facility in Hyderabad.

“Teams from MCD’s public health department visited the Banjara Hills cremation facility in Hyderabad… Based on learnings from Banjara Hills, we will develop the Rohini facility into a green area, where the funeral pyre platforms will be located in various corners so that each family gets a separate secluded space to perform the final rites. At the existing crematoria, the pyre platforms are bundled up under one shed,” the official said.

According to the Delhi government’s annual birth and death registration report issued in December 2023, the Capital recorded 128,106 deaths last year, which translates to an average of 351 deaths per day. According to the report, 104,764 of the deaths were registered under the Hindu faith, 16,467 as Muslims, 3,690 as Sikhs, 781 as Christians, and the remaining 2,404 did not specify any religion.

The MCD public health department oversees operations at 49 wood-based cremation grounds, eight CNG-based cremation grounds, and one electric crematorium. The city also hosts 14 burial grounds (six for Muslims, five for infants, and three for Christians). Of these facilities, 38 cremation grounds and 11 burial grounds are run with the help of NGOs.