Tinsukia, July 7: The Margherita sub-divisional administration will sign a memorandum of understanding with Coal India Limited (CIL) on Monday to renovate the dilapidated, over 70-year old World War II cemetery in Upper Assam's Tinsukia district.

The cemetery at Longtong in Lekhapani, around 70km from here, houses nearly 200 graves of Chinese soldiers who fought against the Japanese in World War II.

The move came after CIL sanctioned Rs 16.7 lakh under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) to a proposal made by Margherita sub-divisional officer Bikram Kairi, to renovate the historically significant war cemetery.

CIL has also sanctioned Rs 6.5 lakh to renovate a smaller cemetery in Margherita, popularly known as Shaheb ka Makbara, which dates back to 1883 and houses around 25 graves, mostly of British and European officers, who were deployed here for coal, rail and other projects.

Talking to The Telegraph, Kairi said, "While discussing issues with various sections of the society, the renovation of the World War II cemetery had cropped up. The dilapidated condition of this heritage site triggered a plan for renovation and to look for a source for funds." He added, " We prepared a proposal and approached CIL to take it up under its CSR."

Longtong village headman Hokheto Sema said, "We are feeling so happy that our longstanding demand is going to be fulfilled. The renovation of the World War II cemetery, which has become prone to encroachment, will not only open tourism opportunity but will also be a milestone in preserving our history."

The war cemetery has been drawing visitors from several countries, including Singapore and China, the most recent being a Chinese delegation, including the Chinese ambassador to India, Luo Zhaohui.

Kairi said the plan is to give it a completely new look and develop it as a tourist place, apart from preserving this cemetery as a heritage. "The proposal includes a boundary wall, beautification and gardening of the area, preservation of the graves by putting granite stones, installing brass plates on the grave to emboss names of the soldiers, among others. There will be a plaque for unknown and unidentified soldiers, some of whom were found and buried, while the others were never found."

The graveyard at Longtong, spread over two bigha, four katha and 15 lessa, has several such graves that do not have names.

"The cemetery forms a part of local folk culture and has been a source of pride for the local people. It needs to be developed in such a way that it also serves a purpose for students to understand the glorious history and culture of the place besides revealing local and World War II-related history," Kairi said.

He said representatives of the Chinese embassy had visited the site last month and were saddened to see the condition of the cemetery. "They requested that renovation and restoration of the cemetery be initiated." "A site monitoring committee has been formed by Margherita administration in the absence of any agency responsible for maintaining the heritage site, which will review the work weekly to ensure that "world-class development" takes place. A caretaker and a gardener will be appointed from the local village and entry fees will be charged once the renovation is done," Kairi added.

The Longtong war cemetery houses the bodies of soldiers of Gen. Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang - the Chinese Nationalist Party - under the direct command of Gen. Joseph William Stilwell. The forces were deployed between 1942 and 1945 to push the Japanese out of Hukawag valley and stop them from crossing the Chindwin river and the link road between Lasho (in Burma) and Ledo, now known as Stilwell road.

A senior CIL official told this correspondent, "There were many soldiers, including Indians, who became martyrs during World War II. As a tribute to their bravery and sacrifice, we decided to turn their final resting place into a heritage site."