Divided by faith, but united by death: KTR to open crematorium on Dec.6

Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony

Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we?

We all know that people are the same whereever you go

There is good and bad in ev'ryone

We learn to live, when we learn to give

Each other what we need to survive, together alive

— Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney rendered this song. The singers themselves epitomise the unity of all humans.

HYDERABAD: As if to live up to this or rather die with this sense, departed souls will rest in peace at this place. After all, they may have been divided by their faiths, but united by death.

Being developed by Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), Mukti Ghat is a funeral complex that serves all three religions- Hinduism, Islam and Christianity in Fatullaguda, Uppal. Built with a budget of Rs 16.25 crores, the complex will be inaugurated by Telangana Minister for Information and Technology KT Rama Rao on Tuesday (December 6).

The land that was proposed for the development of the crematorium was earlier a GHMC dump yard. The six-and-a-half acres of land was taken up and developed as a common crematorium for all three religions to promote communal harmony. The land was divided into three parts each ranging two and a half acres.

All the three crematoriums are well equipped with dedicated office rooms, cold storages, prayer halls, watchman rooms, toilet blocks, last-journey vehicles and parking spaces. As part of the environmentally friendly measures, a sewage treatment plant (STP) with a capacity to treat 50-kilo litres of sewage per day is also installed to treat and reuse the sewage for maintaining the landscapes.

In the Hindu crematorium, HMDA installed two electrical furnaces to reduce environmental pollution. A solar power plant of 140 KW capacity was also installed to meet 90 percent of the power requirement for electric cremation furnaces and other utilities for sustainable development. A separate building has been constructed for performing rituals on the 10th day, as per Hindu traditions.

The Christian and Muslim burial grounds are constructed in three layers with space to accommodate about 550 bodies in each section.