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HAIFA — Rafael Eitan, minister of the environment, warns that in little more than 20 years there will be no place in Israel to bury garbage. He is lucky. He has 20 years.

But even more alarming, within three years there will be no place to bury the dead in some places in Israel.

In a number of the larger cities the cemeteries are rapidly approaching saturation. It is considered axiomatic that cemeteries must be located not far from urban centers for the convenience of the living, for whom visits to graves are a sacred tradition. Open space is available in old garbage dumps and desolate, abandoned industrial areas, but obviously cemeteries must be located in relatively aesthetic surroundings, out of respect for the dead.

There are about 35,000 deaths a year in Israel, and as the population ages and increases, it is expected that within a generation the number will increase to 80,000 a year. Cemeteries are laid out to provide about 200 graves per dunam, or fourth of an acre, but allowance for pathways, trees and decorative shrubbery actually reduces this to about 100 graves a dunam. In other words, Israel must have suitable land reserves, at a very minimum, to provide for more than two dunams, or half an acre, a day.

Multiply that by weeks, months and decades, and the seriousness of the situation in this little country becomes apparent. One could add a political aside to the effect that it appears the country will be getting smaller and smaller.

The immediate crisis has already hit Haifa, and for the past several years an interesting experiment has been carried out here. Bodies are laid to rest not in the ground, but in cubby holes located in stacked tiers in stone walls. The modest tombstone is placed across the opening of the aperture. The appearance may seem strange at first, but it is not unattractive. Jerusalem, too, has resorted to such burials.

Another space-saving suggestion, which is said to have halachic approval, is the interment of married couples in one grave.

While religious circles regard graves as inviolate, it is known that our ancestors in this country, in talmudic times, faced by similar space problems, permitted the gathering up of the bones after a period of time and depositing them in very small niches lining the walls of the tombs, thus making the old graves available for new bodies. The archaeological evidence of these is best exemplified by the catacombs at Bet Shearim.

Now a revolutionary new proposal has been made by engineers at the Technion. Following the example of underground parking, cemeteries will go deep underground. One plan calls for a descent of 20 floors, reached by elevators. Corridors will extend in all directions from the main shaft. The entire area will be well lit, and aesthetically decorated. There will be nothing drab or shabby about it.

A further practical point is added. In case of need, these strongly built underground cemeteries could serve as shelters in case of nuclear war. They would be deeper and stronger than normal bomb shelters.

Six years ago a complete description of the plan, with sketches, was presented to the Ministries of Religion and Finance, but nothing was done. Now the problem is becoming more acute, and the Technion innovators, Professors Giora Rosenhouse and Israel Lin, note that unless something is done soon, there could be an embarrassing crisis shortly. And so, even prior to obtaining official approval or backing, a group of engineers and architects has already drawn up construction plans and is seeking a site, which could even be well within the city limits.

This much is obvious: Unless some action is taken very soon, the crisis could be more than simply embarrassing.