Tarbela affectees seek graveyard, funeral ground

HARIPUR:

Residents of Sector No 2 and adjoining localities have urged the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to provide land for a public graveyard and funeral ground, saying thousands of people affected by the Tarbela Dam project continue to lack these basic facilities.

Members of the Sector No 2 Khulabat Consultative Committee said the people of the area had been collectively demanding land for a public graveyard and funeral ground for the past 10 years, but their request had yet to be addressed.

They said billions of rupees in Tarbela Dam royalty were being distributed across the district while those directly affected by the project remained deprived of basic civic facilities. As a result, residents were forced to offer funeral prayers on roads, where even the direction of the qibla could not always be properly observed.

The committee referred to social media reports stating that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati had arranged funds for land acquisition for graveyards at various locations in Mansehra, describing the initiative as commendable. They said the affectees of Tarbela Dam deserved similar attention.