Miani Saheb: Watchtowers planned to foil drug dealers

Graveyard has become a ‘safe haven for drug dealers’, say police.

LAHORE:

The city government has decided to build 14 watchtowers at Miani Saheb, one of the largest graveyards in the country, to try and restrict drug peddling and other criminal activity in the area.

The graveyard is located over some 1,249 kanals, but has a staff of just 37 to watch over the vast area. The district coordination officer has now approved the construction of 14 watchtowers at various locations in the cemetery.



Tenders for the construction contract have been invited from interested parties for October 26. The contract will be awarded the same day. Construction will take 30 days. The graveyard committee, which manages the site, will hire guards to man the towers.

A watchtower will cost around Rs62,500, giving a total cost of Rs875,000. Work is already underway on another project to build tiled pathways in the graveyard at a cost of Rs2.2 million.

Drug haven

Local police officers said that Miani Saheb, which is located roughly between Mozang, Samanabad and Chauburji, was a “safe haven for drug dealers”.

“Addicts from nearby areas gather at various shrines in Miani Saheb where they buy drugs from dealers carrying small quantities. There is also some prostitution. You see pimps roaming around looking for clients,” one officer said.

The officers said that dense clustering of graves and narrow pathways in the cemetery offered plenty of hiding spaces, making police raids ineffective. “These people sit in a dark corner where they can’t be spotted, and where they can see any police arriving from a distance. Only those who are very high get caught,” one officer said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Asfandyar Baloch said that they were aware of the criminal activities in the graveyard. The watchtowers would serve as a deterrent, he added. The towers would be manned around the clock. The guards would be paid from revenue generated by the graveyard committee by charging for burials.



The towers will be equipped with searchlights so the guards can illuminate areas of the graveyard, he said. If the guards spot any suspicious activity, they will be required to call the police. The cemetery is divided into eight zones, of which the two biggest are Bara Makan and Sirki Band. These two zones will have eight towers. The rest will have one tower each, Baloch said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2013.