Littering, Garbage Heaps At Graveyards Irk Citizens

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Jan, 2021 ) :The grave yards in Islamabad are turned into dumping grounds, mainly due to lack of coordination between Capital Development Authority's (CDA) Sanitation Department and Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA).

"Piles of garbage are increasing gradually in various graveyards because of poor cleanliness services in the Federal capital, whose managers are still reluctant to opt for scientific methods to shift household trash from the residential areas," Chaudhry Arshad, a resident of Sector G-8, told APP.

Pointing out indifferent attitude of the departments concerned towards cleanliness of the burial places, Maimona Hasnain, shared a post on Facebook to draw their attention towards heaps of garbage piling at a graveyard, located in sector H-11.

She urged the authorities concerned to launch cleanliness drive at graveyards at the earliest.

She also appealed to citizens to refrain from littering while visiting graveyards to offer pray for their loved ones' departed souls.

"CDA and municipality need to wake up and coordinate a massive cleanliness operation in the area," Arooj Jalil another netizen commented on the post.

Chief Metropolitan Officer Syeda Shafaq Hashmi said there were five graveyards at present in the capital city. Three of them were dedicated for Muslims, whereas two for the Christian community.

To a query, she said the DMA was only responsible for the maintenance of graveyards, whereas cleanliness fell into the sanitation department's jurisdiction.

"We are holding meetings with Sanitation Department to streamline various matters as it was recently shifted back to the CDA," she added.

Director Sanitation Sardar Khan Zimri assured that the department would soon start a cleanliness drive at the graveyards.

He called upon the residents to behave like a responsible citizen and avoid littering such places.

A senior official in DMA on condition of anonymity said the department was facing paucity of funds as it still received fund from the CDA.

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