Biritiba Mirim, Brazil, mayor Roberto Pereira da Silva proposed a unique solution to the city’s running out of space to bury the dead: Pass a ban on death.

The town has run out of space in its cemetery, and cannot cremate people or build a new cemetery due to environmental restrictions.

“Take good care of your health in order not to die,” the mayor’s proposal said. “Infractors will be held responsible for their acts.”

The bill, which sets no penalty for passing away, is meant to protest a federal law that has barred a new or expanded cemetery in Biritiba Mirim, a town of 28,000 people 45 miles east of Sao Paulo.

“Of course the bill is laughable, unconstitutional, and will never be approved,” said Gilson Soares de Campos, an aide to the mayor. “But can you think of a better marketing strategy?”

A 2003 decree by Brazil’s National Environment Council bars new or expanded cemeteries in so-called permanent preservation areas or in areas with high water tables. Environmental protection measures rule out cremation. . . .

More than 50,000 people already are buried in the 3,500 crypts and tombs in Biritiba Mirim’s municipal cemetery, which was inaugurated in 1910.

The cemetery ran out of space last month, and 20 residents who have died since November were forced to share a crypt. But even that solution has limits.

“We have even buried people under the walkways,” de Campos said, predicting that crypts will reach capacity in six months. “Look, people are going to die. A solution has to be found, or we’ll have to break the law.” — Associated Press

Obviously passing a law against dying isn’t going to stop it. So something has to give here.