TNN
Kolkata, Apr 4: Soon, a click of the mouse will reveal the exact location of a grave in the major cemeteries of Kolkata. The process of digitizing records of more than 100,000 burials and 20,000 graves at the Lower Circular Road, Tollygunge, Kidderpore, South Park Street, North Park Street and Bhowanipore cemeteries has begun.
Once the process is completed, Europeans can easily find out where their ancestors who were part of the British East India Company are buried. Then, not only would Europeans love to visit the tombs of their ancestors, but even domestic tourists may like to see the last resting places of the likes of C F Andrews, David Drummond, J E Drinkwater Bethune, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Lal Behari Shah, Governor Hiren Mookherjee and Kamala Bose.
Over 2 million Europeans are buried in India. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission takes care of four cemeteries in the east, including the one in Kohima. There are many more cemeteries here like the old Scottish Cemetery at Park Circus which are in a bad shape. A Scottish organisation has now started showing some interest in this.
"The British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (BACSA) has tied up with Computax Consultants to digitise the Bhowanipore Burial Registers," said Simon Wilson, the British deputy high commissioner. BACSA is paying Rs 96,000 to digitize the records of Bhowanipore. The Christian Burial Board has agreed to pay for the other cemeteries. Computax has already completed the digitization of records at the Lower Circular Road Cemetery. Once that is complete, the records will be uploaded to www.burialsinindia.net.
"The oldest register at the Bhowanipore Cemetery dates back to 1807. Many of the oldest graves are of soldiers, originally buried at Fort William (the original one) and then shifted to Bhowanipore. The registers are in extremely bad shape. We will talk to libraries in Kolkata and try to get the registers restored," said Dr Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, honorary secretary of BACSA, which was founded in 1977.
"There has to be a constructive promotion by the state government and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. People would certainly like to visit Kolkata than go to other places then. It all depends on political will," said Wilson.