Committee formed to procure land for the dead

CCB president directs cleaning of storm drains before monsoon


Our Correspondent June 30, 2019
PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

RAWALPINDI: A special committee has been formed for land acquisition for new graveyards in Rawalpindi.

The decision was taken in the meeting of Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) which was headed by the CCB President Shahzad Tanveer and attended by other high officials. In this regard, Shahzad Tanveer said that a committee comprising cantonment administration and elected representatives should be formed to immediately complete the process of procuring land for new graveyard.

The president issued directions to clean up all storm drains in CCB’s vicinity before arrival of monsoon season.

The meeting also approved 46 residential building plans and three-commercial plans.

The meeting vowed to take CCB share of 0.4 million gallons per day (mgd) from Khanpur water supply project to reduce water shortage in the areas and decided to install water meters to determine water consumption.

Govt decides to sell state lands to pay off debt

Even though there are 54 graveyards in Rawalpindi, none of them has space to accept any more funerals. Hence, delays in the construction of new graveyards in the city have caused concerns amongst the public.

Citizens are thus compelled to reuse old graves by paving over them to bury their loved ones. Moreover, gravediggers charge exorbitant sums for this purpose. According to a survey conducted in Rawalpindi by Daily Express, there is no more room for new graves in the existing graveyards of the city.

Families who have suffered the loss of a loved one are usually offered two options by gravediggers, either to point out any grave of their own family member or the undertaker can select an old, unclaimed grave for the burial of the deceased.

Undertakers term these graves as “empty”. Once either option has been approved by the family, the undertaker either digs these graves and readies them anew or flattens them. For this purpose, undertakers charge up to Rs25,000  while the graves remain coarse even after such a huge sum changes hands.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2019.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ