The Supreme Court has said cremation spots close to dense human settlements should be relocated.

Issuing a verdict on writ petitions from more than two dozen residents from Kathmandu Metropolitan City-7 Gangahiti, a division bench of Justices Prakash Man Singh Raut and Nahakul Subedi directed the metropolis to find an alternative place for cremations.

“The fact cannot be ignored that the smoke from burning bodies has affected the health of the people in the neighbourhood. The constitution and international laws protect their right to live in a healthy environment,” reads a line from the full text of the verdict. The verdict also says there is a competing interest in the case as it is an individual’s choice to follow any religious belief and perform funeral rites as per their customs.

“However, the constitution has provisions to limit the religious and cultural activities, if they affect public health, social harmony and decency, which have also been accepted by the international laws,” the Supreme Court verdict added. “It would be inappropriate to continue cremation at Gangahiti. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City-7, in coordination and consensus with the stakeholders, should find an appropriate place for cremation and hand it over to the community.”

In the verdict, the division bench has also directed the local government to protect the area as it is attached to the sentiments of the locals. The apex court also has said the local governments in coordination with the federal government should move to green cremation, abandoning the use of firewood and other materials that contribute to air pollution.

Gangahiti has long been used as a cremation site for a certain caste group in ward 7 of the metropolis. As the human settlements in the area increased, the cremation spot came close to dense settlement. The locals in the last few years had been demanding a relocation of the cremation site. As the metropolis took no step to that effect, the locals knocked the Supreme Court’s doors, seeking its intervention.

Senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi, who pleaded the case, said the apex court has given a progressive verdict in respect to the people’s right to health and right to live in a healthy environment. “Problems like Gangahiti exist in several parts of the Capital. This is a landmark verdict which gives an amicable solution to such problems,” he told the Post.