The Marve-Malad Road Cemetery, a resting place shared by Hindus, Muslims, and Christians, stands divided by walls, but it’s the Christian burial section that now presents a grim, distressing sight for those visiting their departed loved ones.

In Mumbai, due to a severe space crunch, Christian families have only two types of graves to choose from: permanent and temporary. Permanent graves have sharply declined over the years because of soaring costs and a lack of land. Temporary graves, on the other hand, are exhumed after 18 months, with the remains placed in small vaults called niches inside the cemetery.