Karachi mayor announces standard rate for graves

KARACHI: In a bid to suppress cemetery exploitation that has been going on with impunity for years, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab took a big step to install banners with a fixed rate of PKR 14,300 in all registered graveyards in Karachi.

This is intended to ensure uniformity in burial costs and prevent the harsh treatment of bereaved families under the odds of excessive charges that have been made due to space constraints for graves combined with the power of land mafias controlling operations in cemeteries.

Sarwar Alam, Director of Cemeteries, visited cemeteries under KMC’s jurisdiction, instructing workers to adhere strictly to KMC’s bylaws and prescribed rates and emphasizing that only registered individuals would be allowed to work in the cemeteries.

Some mafia groups had extorted extra money from residents of the city for forced burial operations in cemeteries, in response to which the Mayor’s orders to post banners showing the correct rates for graves in KMC-run cemeteries come as a fresh gush of air to restore transparency very much in demand.

Limits on graves are meant to ease the burden of families in mourning and render an even playing field for all citizens. End they are part of a broader effort to better manage and upgrade the conditions of cemeteries in Karachi, where more closures of graveyards occur as plots become scarcer, and prices for available plots soar.