Cost of dying: CDA increases burial, related fees

ISLAMABAD:

The price of burials at local graveyards has gone up manifold after the Capital Development Authority (CDA) approved staggering increases of over 300 per cent in service charges.

The service charges have been increased from Rs300 to Rs1,000 for large cemeteries including the ones in sectors H-8 and H-11, and from Rs100 to Rs500 at smaller graveyards. Rent for of coffin-carrier vehicles have also been increased from Rs4 per kilometre to Rs20 per kilometre.

If a family wants a grave with stone walls, an additional Rs3,500 will be charged by the CDA.

CDA Municipal Administration Director Hamza Shafqat said burial charges were last revised in 1998.

The CDA possesses a total of seven graveyards including one each for Christians, Ahmadis, Ismaelis and Bahais in Sector H-9. The first graveyard, a 50-acre facility was established in the federal capital in 1964 at Sector H-8 and has almost filled to the capacity with over 40,000 graves.

In 2007, a new 118-acre graveyard was established in Sector H-11/3, which is should meet the city’s needs for the next 15 years.

The CDA also has a fleet of four funeral buses. According to CDA records, 18 bodies are buried in CDA-administered graveyards every day.

Only Islamabad residents are allowed to use city graveyards and a family member of the deceased must present an identity card to prove permanent residence in the capital.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th, 2015.