Unpaid bills: H-11 Graveyard phone out of service for weeks

Residents face difficulties to contact admin to ‘reserve’ a place for burial of loved ones

ISLAMABAD: Though the civic agency’s main graveyard remains busy with funeral services throughout the week, its telephone has been dysfunctional for the last many weeks due to unpaid bills.

The Capital Development Authority’s H-11 Graveyard phone connection was severed for non-payment of dues almost two months ago, as a result, capital residents have been facing difficulties to contact the graveyard management to secure a permanent abode for burial of their loved ones.

A CDA official said that though a grave was only reserved after verifying the deceased’s or his close relative’s identity card — as only Islamabad residents were buried in CDA graveyards, for which a family member has to visit the office, people also contact the office for so many other matters such as the civic agency’s burial bus service or for rehabilitation of graves. He said that on normal days, the phone remains constantly busy.

Residents said this state of affairs reflected the apathy of the municipal authorities. “The CDA makes millions of rupees by selling plots every few months but it is unable to pay phone bills for such a crucial public service. It’s very unfortunate,” said Muhammad Saqib, a resident of Sector G-6. He demanded that the civic agency address the issue at the earliest.

Poor infrastructure:

The staff at the graveyard works with inadequate facilities and equipment. The offices and the graveyard have no alternate electricity arrangement during loadshedding hours. “We sometimes ask families to bring their own lights when they come to bury their loved ones,” said an official, while requesting not to be named.

When contacted, a CDA officer said that he was unaware of the issue.

CDA Director Municipal Administration  Shahbaz Tahir and Member Administration Amer Ali Ahmed were not available for comments despite repeated calls on their phone numbers.

The H-8 Graveyard was established in 1964. The 50-acre facility is almost filled to capacity today. The H-11 Graveyard was established in 2007 with an arrangement to meet the city’s needs for 15 years.

The CDA maintains separate graveyards for Christians, Ahmadis, Ismailis and Bahais.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2016.