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Indian funeral centre by January

A final resting place for Indian expatriates in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates is scheduled to open in January 2013, the Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi, announced.

The minister was speaking after visiting the construction site of the new multi-faith funeral centre off Sharjah Airport Road on Sunday. He also handed over Dh500,000 allotted to the facility from a community welfare fund for overseas Indians.

The facility is designed to have four gas cremators for Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists as well as burial grounds for Muslims and Christians, said YA Rahim, president of the Indian Association Sharjah (IAS), which is executing the over Dh5million project.

He said IAS plans to open the facility with at least one cremator by mid January. “The compound wall for the Christian burial yard has already been made by the Public Works Department. The same for the Muslims will be done soon,” Rahim told Khaleej Times.

“We are getting the first cremator valued at $29,000 from the US by next month. In future, we are planning to have at least three more cremators for the believers of the three religions,” he said.

The Indian Consulate in Dubai records about 1,300 deaths of Indians in Dubai and the Northern Emirates every year. Though the exact figures are not available, a good number of deceased are either buried or cremated here.

When it starts functioning, the funeral centre will not just be a final abode for the community members, but it will also be an example of the Sharjah government’s magnanimity and an expression of the Indian expatriates’ contribution to their community.

The land for the funeral centre spread in 8.3acres opposite the Sharjah Cement Factory in Al Sajja was donated by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Supreme Council Member and the Ruler of Sharjah. The donation came after the need for a decent crematorium for the Indian expatriates arose.

According to IAS officials, the need was felt after they witnessed the cremation of their founder president K Madhavan who died in an accident. His body was cremated in the manual cremation facility which is in a municipal dump yard.

The Dh500,000 from the Indian Community Welfare Fund, a cheque which the minister handed over to IAS officials on Sunday, came after a proposal by the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, MK Lokesh.

Following the proposal, the minister expanded the scope of the fund that is collected through a Dh10 fee from Indian expatriates which is collected when they avail each consular service.

The Consul General of India in Dubai, Sanjay Verma also pitched in to pool contribution from members of the Indian community. On his recommendation, the Gurudwara Committee in Dubai offered Dh325, 000 to the funeral centre.

The Indian Community Welfare Committee under the patronage of the Consulate contributed Dh100,000. The same amount was donated by hotelier SP Singh and EMKE Group Managing Director MA Yousuffali. The latter has promised to add Dh200,000 more from his side, said Rahim.

“We are deeply grateful to Shaikh Sultan for his love, affection and benevolence towards the Indian community,” Rahim added.

sajila@khaleejtimes.com