As part of Islamic rituals, Muslims visit to graveyards especially on the occasion of Eid to offer Fateha for the departed souls of their dear ones. But on this Eid the dilapidated condition of graveyards, not only in Pindi but in the federal capital, disappointed the residents of the twin cities.

This year Eidul Fitr fell in monsoon when wild bushes grow everywhere, but no proper arrangements were seen to maintain graveyard on the especial occasion.

Wild bushes could be seen covering pathways making it difficult for the people to reach the graves of their relatives.

Visitors dressed up in new clothes were compelled to clean up graves and their surroundings on their own.

They formally lodged complaint about poor condition of graveyards with gravediggers but there was no authority to take such complaints in a proper manner and address them.

In Islamabad the biggest graveyard in Sector H-8 was considered to be a better one as compared to those in Rawalpindi but it was also presenting a shabby look this time. Like Rawalpindi, there must be a committee comprising citizens to look into the affairs of the graveyard.

There are some citizens committees on graveyards in Pindi but they are ineffective and could not play a significant role in the maintenance of graveyards due to financial constraints.

The H-8 graveyard houses graves of important personalities, including former rulers, politicians, bureaucrats, generals, judges and intellectuals of the past, and their relatives must form a body to maintain the graveyard which has more than 40,000 graves.

The matter of poor condition of graveyards had also been taken up at a senate standing committee.

The issue of space in the ever-growing city of Rawalpindi is not being felt just by the living populace. The problem of burying the dead has become a serious cause for concern as graveyards in the urban areas are not controlled by the district government.

The only graveyard planned and completed in 1997 near Dhamial Village, some 25 kilometres away from the city, is yet to become the first choice for the people due to its inaccessibility.

The residents in the urban areas, on the other hand, are facing shortage of space, as almost all the burial grounds are either filled to capacity or reserved in advance. Usman Ali, a resident of Ratta Amral, a locality of the old city, said that most graveyards were established by the local people and are maintained by local mohalla committees. "The committees only allow burial to those who pay for the upkeep of the graveyards," he said.

With most empty spaces reserved by the old residents for future burials, the newcomers either pay for space or take their dead to their native areas, Ali said.

There are four major graveyards in the city-- Rata, Pirwadhai, Eidgah and Dhoke Munshi-but they have run out of space. Besides, they are short of necessary facilities such as a place for funeral prayers and making ablution, said Raja Ghufran, who has been living at Dhoke Kala Khan on Murree Road for the last 30 years.

The old residents are fully aware of the problem. They know that they have to keep the land for imminent burials. "They do not allow strangers to bury their dead in these reserved lands," he added.

Mohammad Anas Khan, who lives on Chakri Road, said: "Majority of the settlers in Rawalpindi hail from Azad Kashmir, Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa and Hazara and it is not easy for them to take the dead bodies to their natives areas. So they purchase land in local graveyard."

The public graveyard near Dhamial Village was set up back in 1997, when Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was in power.

An official of Rawal Town administration said the town had only two buses that can be hired for burial purposes. The Dhamial graveyard is far off and people prefer not to take the dead there, he added.

A senior official of Rawalpindi administration said reserving land for a graveyard near the city was not viable because there was not enough space.He said the graveyard near Dhamial was fully developed.

Some vegetation grows there, but it has a proper place to offer funeral prayers and has adequate water to make ablution.

It has also been observed that orders of Supreme Court passed in 2009 that no one can encroach upon graveyards' land, many graveyards in Rawalpindi are still in the clutches of powerful land grabbers.

The people of Dhoke Munshi Khan, union council 79, cannot bury their dead in the graveyard because of the fear of land grabbing. The union council falls in the constituency of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.

Even after the Supreme Court order, the local administration did move against the encroachers but half heartedly, smashing some of the structures but never getting the land of the graveyard back.

Inhabited by over 40,000, most of the residents of Dhoke Munshi Khan have to go all the way to Dhamial, which is 30 kilometres from their union council, for burying the dead.

"We cannot even dare to speak against the powerful encroachers," said a resident, who insisted on anonymity. "They (land mafia) have established a dairy farm at the graveyard."

Graveyards in rural areas in Islamabad and in private housing societies are also in bad shape. A sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat and Inter-Provincial Coordination has asked the authorities concerned to enhance land allocated for graveyards from two to three per cent to meet the requirements of residents of the societies and also asked the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to look into the matter of arranging the land for graveyards in rural areas.

The committee also recommended the development of joint/common graveyard by the societies.