On Friday, the Sindh government decided to allocate land to create more graveyards in Karachi.
The decision was reached at a meeting chaired by Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, Sindh Chief Secretary. The meeting was attended by Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani, Metropolitan Commissioner Dr. Syed Saifur Rehman, Karachi Development Authority Director-General Dr. Badar Jameel, Board of Revenue member Tamizuddin Khehro and all the deputy commissioners of the city.
The commissioner told the meeting that all Karachi’s graveyards had run out of space, as a result of which in all six districts of the city there was an immediate need for new graveyards.
The metropolitan commissioner said at present there were 203 graveyards in the city under the administration of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, of which 184 were for Muslims, 12 for Christians, five for Hindus and one each for Jews and Parsis.
Dr. Rehman added that the KMC was developing three new graveyards in the city in Surjani Sector 16, Link Road N5 on the Super Highway and Taiser Town.
The chief secretary said the lack of space in existing graveyards had emerged as a major issue. “Graveyards in Karachi are out of space and there is an immediate need for new graveyards in all six districts of the city,” he said and called for allocating land for graveyards not only for Muslims but also for the minorities in the city.
He directed the Board of Revenue representative to convene a meeting of the reserve committee of the board to reserve available state land, including 300 acres in Gadap, 200 acres in Bin Qasim and five acres in Korangi, for the purpose of a graveyard.
He added that a summary in this regard would also be moved in the Sindh cabinet meeting for approval.
The chief secretary also directed the commissioner and deputy commissioners to identify available state land to establish graveyards in District West and District East. He also directed the metropolitan commissioner to submit a plan for the administration of new graveyards within a week.