Lack of water, space in graveyard high on voters’ issues

Rival parties may take advantage of situation

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD: The lack of water supply in the city and cantonment areas, as well as the lack of space in graveyards, has become a fundamental factor turning the public against the former ruling party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the upcoming general election. Rival parties have taken advantage of this situation and adopted it as a slogan to intensify their campaign against the former ruling party.

While the voters have also come up with a slogan of their own, “Give us water, give us a graveyard, and then ask for our vote”. Three constituencies of the national assembly and six from the provincial assembly are raising their slogans against the former ruling party, raising tough questions for PML-N candidates to answer.



Three mega projects with an aim to supply 200 million gallons daily to the twin cities from Ghazi Bharota, Tarbela Dam Reservoir and Jehlum River have been in the pipeline for the last 10 years with no progress being made to put them into action.

On the other hand, 550 tube wells have also stopped functioning because of the decreasing water levels underground to 750 feet, drying up the reserves in Rawal Dam and Khanpur Dam. If even one of the three mega projects had been completed, the water supply for both the cities for the next 100 years would have been adequate.

Moreover, 54 of the city’s cemeteries have no space for new graves. The undertaker mafia is busy in levelling old graves to create space for new ones. These grave diggers charge thousands of rupees from people seeking to bury their dead. As if living space was short, now there is no place dead too. In such situation, people of the constituencies are incensed.

The Punjab government had allotted Rs30 million for a model graveyard in Dhamiyal, which was to be built on 2,000 kanals, a morgue and transport facility. However, the project could not be completed in time and now the tenure of the government has also come to an end. This model graveyard project was buried.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2018.