Model Town Extension: ‘No graveyard to bury our dead’

Residents complain Samsani villagers not allowing them to use the facility.

LAHORE:

Residents of Model Town Extension have complained about a lack of space for the burial of their dead. They say residents of Samsani village, in Johar Town, are preventing them from using a graveyard set aside by the Lahore Development Authority for their use. They also complain that the graveyard is too far away from the scheme.

They said the LDA had not set aside any space for a graveyard under the initial design of Q, R and S Blocks. The Model Town society had surrendered these blocks to the LDA for development of the extension scheme 30 years ago.

They said the graveyard near Samsani village was arranged following a complaint to the provincial Ombudsman.

Ahmad Shafiq, a resident of R Block, said residents of Samsani village had now started resisting their attempts to use the space. He said intervention by influential people was the only remedy available for people who had to bury a dead relative at the Samsani village graveyard.

An LDA official said their responsibility had been met once a graveyard was provided to the residents of Model Town extension in Johar Town. “Now, it’s the city district government’s job to ensure that no one is stopping them from using the facility,” he said.

Gulberg Town’s Town Municipal Officer Faisal Shahzad they could only take action once a complaint was lodged with them. He said so far no Model Town Extension resident had approached the administration with the problem.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2011.