Islooites Demand More Burial Places As Population Grows

With a massive surge in the Federal Capital's population during the last two decades, the residents of urban areas are running out of burial places, opting to go to the neighbouring boroughs for burying their loved ones

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2020 ) :With a massive surge in the Federal Capital's population during the last two decades, the residents of urban areas are running out of burial places, opting to go to the neighbouring boroughs for burying their loved ones.

Stressing the need for more facilities in urban Islamabad, they have expressed dismay over slackness of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), which has not demarcated land for a new graveyard in the capital city during the last decade and so.

"We need more burial places in the urban areas as various communities lacking dedicated graveyards in their localities have resorted to use green belts along the Islamabad Expressway, especially near Iqbal Town and Sohan to bury their near and dear ones," local Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Raja Khurram Nawaz said in an exclusive chat with APP.

He said exponential growth of population and mushrooming housing societies in the capital city had increased the demand of more burial places.

Exhorting the CDA to issue no-objection certificates (NOCs) and layout plans (LoPs) only to those housing societies which ensured allocation of graveyards, schools and parks as per the law, he said, "The non-availability of facility in various areas is the major issue that we were told by the constituents during the last general election campaign." Khurram said he had personally requested to the CDA for not issuing LoPs to the housing societies, which were not setting up graveyards on the dedicated lands.

The MNA said he with the help of CDA Chairman Aamer Ali Ahmed had made sure establishment of two graveyards in two rural areas, including Model Town and Firash town. Two more facilities were being planned for Bara Kahu and Shahzad Town, he added.

Shrafat Ali, a resident of Sector G-7/4, regretting improper planning in the city said the burial spaces were shrinking due to increase in the population.

He said the migrant workers, who had been settled in the capital for the last couple of decades, sometime faced problem in burying their loved ones in the designated graveyards, forcing them to take the dead to their native town or neighbouring boroughs.

When contacted, CDA Chairman Aamer Ali said the plan for setting up of new graveyards in Islamabad was under consideration and details with the media would be shared shortly.

A top official of Metropolitan Corporation of Islamabad (MCI) said the department had sent a case to the CDA for allocation of lands for graveyards in various sectors, expressing hope that the plan would soon be in execution phase.

According to her, 100 acres of land was required for setting up a graveyard for the Muslims and 25 acres for the Christian community.

She said two graveyards each for the Muslim and the Christian communities were set up in sectors H-11 and H-8 during the last decade. There were total seven burial places in the urban areas and four in the rural ones, he added.