RAWALPINDI: The graveyards of Rawalpindi city no longer have space to accommodate requests to bury the dead.

There are 1,994 graveyards in the Rawalpindi district, including 33 in the city areas, 711 in semi-urban areas, formerly known as Potohar Town, 11 in the cantonment areas, 308 in Murree, 145 in Taxila, 390 in Kallar Syedan, 34 in Kahuta and 85 in Kotli Sattian.

Graveyards in Rawalpindi city and the cantonment areas no longer have space for new graves, forcing some to pay gravediggers – known as gorkans – to fill unattended graves and dig new ones.

“I have to pay Rs10,000 for a grave as there was no space in Dhoke Ratta graveyard. The gorkan previously refused to give me space, but after getting the money he immediately found space between two old graves.

It might have been an unattended grave; I did not pay attention earlier as I was worried about burying my uncle,” Akalgarh resident Mohammad Yousaf said.

Hamza Malik, who lives in Dhoke Ratta, said the graveyard extended to Leh Nullah, and the graves of his mother and grandfather were damaged when Leh Nullah rose during the recent monsoon.

The Dhoke Ratta and Pirwadhai graveyards are the oldest in the city, and are a picture of neglect. Nearby residents and land-grabbers have encroached on graveyard land with homes and shops, but there has been no check on them.

New Katarian resident Mumtaz said their local graveyard on I.J. Principal Road has also fallen victim to encroachments, this time by influential locals who have encroached on the graveyard by allocating space for graves for living relatives and building boundary walls.

The main graveyard in the cantonment areas near Racecourse Park has been closed to civilian residents of the cantonment, with officials saying there is no space in the graveyard. Retired military officers and their families, however, are allowed to bury their loved ones there.

Shafqat Bajwa, a resident of Westridge Bazaar, told Dawn the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) did not permit civilians to bury their loved ones. He said the RCB had told civilian residents that the graveyard was meant for martyrs of the armed forces and for other military families.

Shah Payara near Allahabad and Chur Chowk does not have a proper burial site, while other graveyards in the cantonment depict a sorry state of affairs with regards to the RCB.

In 1996, the PPP government had planned future development in Rawalpindi city, and allocated 1,000 kanals in Rakh Dhamial for a graveyard, but 21 years later, provincial governments and the city district government have failed to develop the project.

The Punjab government has started a project titled Sher-i-Khamoshan to construct a site for funeral prayers, a mosque and a graveyard in various cities in Punjab – 200 kanals in Rakh Dhamial will also be utilised.

The remaining 800 kanals will remain empty. For the last several years, the provincial government and local PML-N leaders have tried to use this land for various projects, which have been deferred after criticism.

PTI leader and former district nazim Raja Tariq Mehboob Kayani told Dawn the graveyard shortage is a key issue.

“In 1996, the RMC got 1,000 kanals in Rakh Dhamial where the Punjab government built washrooms and a place for ablution, and it bought buses to ferry funeral attendants and bodies from the city to the new graveyards.

A few graves were developed in the area but later, people refused to leave the city areas to bury their loved ones because roads in the area had not been constructed and it was not safe there at night,” he recalled.

“The government should construct a two-way road from Rawalpindi city to Rakh Dhamial, as the existing road is not in a condition where people can travel [on it]. Second, an alternate road should be constructed from Adiala Road to Rakh Dhamial,” he said.

When contacted, Rawalpindi Mayor Sardar Naseem admitted that there is shortage of space in existing graveyards, but added that the provincial government has launched a programme to construct a new graveyard for the city.

“Approximately 200 kanals from the Rakh Dhamial graveyard will be turned into a modern graveyard called Sher-i-Khamoshan. The RMC will purchase four buses so the bodies and funeral participants can travel to the graveyard without any problems,” he added.

He said that even though people were not willing to leave the city to bury their dead, there is no space left in the city where they could do so.

“We had no choice but to develop the land allocated for the graveyard and provide people buses for transportation,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2017