GRAVE NEGLECT: Minorities commission chairman Syed Adnan at the Lower Circular Road cemetery on Tuesday. Picture by Amit Datta

The boundary walls of the city’s cemeteries should be immediately restored and securitymen deployed round-the-clock to prevent any unauthorised entry, the state minorities commission chairman said on Tuesday.

The commission has begun an inspection of the cemeteries in the city and elsewhere in the state that have been lying in a shambles. The inspection follows a prod from Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

The Scottish Church Cemetery, on Karaya Road, and the Lower Circular Road Cemetery were visited in the first phase on Tuesday.

“Both the Lower Circular Road Cemetery, run by the Christian Burial Board, and the Scottish Church Cemetery, managed by St Andrews Church, are in a bad shape. The premises have not been maintained for a long time. Several measures need to be taken to bring them back to their original condition,” said commission chairman Syed Adnan.

Apart from Adnan, the inspection team comprised Gillian Rosemary Hart, Kalyan Choudhury and N.F. Tankariwala. The report will be submitted in a month.

“Most burial grounds resemble a criminals’ den. We will urge the government to take appropriate steps in this regard,” said Adnan.

He, however, said the commission could not interfere in the labour problems at the Lower Circular Road Cemetery, as the issue was beyond its ambit.

Employees of the Lower Circular Road Cemetery told the commission members that they had lodged police complaints against entry of local criminals, especially at night.

“We have asked the members of the burial board to send us copies of the FIRs, so we could attach them to our report,” said Adnan.

Members of the Christian community who were present during the inspection urged the minorities commission to set up a mortician, like Peace Haven on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, at Lower Circular Road Cemetery.

“A mortician can be set up at the cemetery if there is enough space,” said Hart.