In Norway's Svalbard Islands lies the small town of Longyearbyen, a beautiful artic town which has outlawed death. It is not a new law but has been practiced for years! Since 1950 no one allowed to die in the town. If someone gets terminally ill they are flown off to the mainland area and they are supposed to spend the rest of their time there. In a situation of sudden death, the body is buried elsewhere. You'd wonder why such a law or why no burials? Well, it is to protect the residents living there currently.

Longyearbyen is a cold town and there is constant snow. It was discovered that the dead bodies were not decomposing because of the weather conditions. As a result of this, deadly viruses from the bodies stayed alive and could infect the living population. An epidemic already spread In August 2016, when there was an anthrax outbreak in northern Siberia. 90 others were hospitalised. The officials in Longyearbyen had the same fear that a similar thing could happen with bacteria and viruses in their graveyard.

Now, locals do not even allow to use the local graveyards for burials. Today even if the person is born and bred in the town, he/she cannot be buried in the same land. The town is mostly inhabited by coal miners and the fear is prevalent about the epidemic spread. Back in the 90's scientists had exhumed buried bodies and found living viruses on them. Since then the burials have been stopped.

That's not all even pregnant women are not allowed to give birth. Since there is no hospital here, they have to go to the main town and come back with their babies. The town is located in far North and has been a base for tourism in the Svalbard Islands. It is a home to several polar bears and reindeers. The winters here are also tough with four months in the dark.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 22, 2018 11:16 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).