All 54 graveyards in garrison city run out of space
People are facing a severe problem in burying their loved ones, as all 54 graveyards in the garrison city have run out of space.
Due to improper cleaning arrangements in these cemeteries and overgrowth of grass and spontaneous plants, graves are not visible and it has become difficult for the relatives of the deceased to reach the graves.
Municipal corporations and cantonment boards appear to be failing in their responsibilities to protect and maintain cleanliness in cemeteries. Currently, all 54 graveyards in Rawalpindi city and the Cantonment are filled to capacity. A project to construct a new graveyard on a 2,000-kanal of land in Dhamyal Rakh has been pending for the last 19 years.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had earmarked Rs300 million in the year 2017-18 to make the Dhamyal Rakh graveyard functional under the Graveyard Authority.
Work on the boundary wall of the Dhamial Rakh graveyard and the ablution site has been completed at a cost of Rs20 million while two buses and three ambulances have also been arranged.
Subsequently, under an administrative order, the construction of graves in this new cemetery was stopped. As a result, not a single grave was built in the new cemetery.
Today, there is no room for new graves in all the cemeteries of the city and Cantonment, but the gravedigger mafia is busy digging the space for new graves by demolishing the old damaged and unmarked graves in the darkness of night.
Currently, all cemeteries in the city have fallen into the hands of the graveyard mafia who charge as much as up to Rs34,000 for digging a grave.
The graves that were not visited by families were being demolished by these people to build a new one.
Citizens Muhammad Younis, Shabbir Ahmed, Malik Tehseen and Raja Ashraf said that during the holy month of Ramadan, the process of cleaning, restoration of roads and construction and repair of fences should be started in all cemeteries of the city and Cantonment.
They said that the new cemetery should be made functional without any delay and staff should be appointed and transport facilities should be provided for carrying the bodies to graves.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2022.