KARACHI: No respite for deceased Karachi citizens even as they will found no place to get buried easily after living a troublesome life due to dilapidated infrastructure of the economic hub of Pakistan.
Bad governance and lawlessness give opportunities to criminals to gather around and form mafias against those who are left helpless and unattended by the authorities.
A city with over 25 million population, the birth rate of over 100 children a day and the mortality rate of 10 to 15 a day is not being given enough resources despite being called as the economic hub of Pakistan.
Not a single graveyard is established in the metropolis for the last 30 years on the state level. The government it had allotted 20-acre of land for a graveyard in Mawach Goth in 1989, whereas, the district south has not gotten a place for graveyard so far.
At this time, there are 203 KMC-administered graveyards in the metropolis including 184 for Muslim population, 12 for Christians, 5 for Hindus and 1 each for Parsi and Jewish community.
These graveyards are now populated in full capacity for many years and there is no place left for more burials amid an increase in mortalities as per population proportion. Karachiites are forced to bury their beloved ones in these graveyards besides being the victims of the graveyard mafia for paying hefty prices to get a place for their deceased family members and relatives.
Some of the major closed graveyards include Azeempura, Colony Gate, Maula Bukhsh, Model Colony, Paposh Nagar, Sakhi Hassan, Yaseenabad, Essa Nagri and others.
Dejected citizens amid grief of their beloved one’s loss are paying rs30,000 to Rs100,000 for a grave when the government rates are fixed at around Rs9,000. If a citizen dares to argue over grave rates, ‘the graveyard is full and have no place for burial’ is the answer.
In other cases, the citizens get discover a new grave built on their relative’s place when they head to graveyards to offer Fateha.
Authorities should take notice of the major issue to Karachiites and provide land for new graveyards.