Hyderabad: With land becoming scarce, finding the final abode is turning out to be a knotty affair. Death ends a lifetime of joy, despair and struggle. But many are being deprived of even this form of release. It is expensive to get your dear ones buried in the `Mega City.'

The notice put up at the graveyard adjacent to Masjid-e-Ilahi in Chadarghat tells it all. The announcement, in Urdu says, "The process of burial has been stopped here in view of shortage of space. Please don't cause embarrassment by asking land for burial." The plea taken up by the mosque committee underlines the gravity of the problem. With burial grounds bursting at their seams, Muslims are finding it difficult to bury their dead.

Fee charged

There are about 500 burial grounds in the twin cities. Some have disappeared altogether while many have shrunk, thanks to land sharks. The Wakf Board owns most of them. There are also family graveyards and those attached to famous shrines. The price charged for a site increases in direct proportion to the importance of the burial ground and the financial status of the bereaved family. "Burial sites are supposed to come free, but we allow a fee of Rs. 500 to be charged to meet the expenses towards maintenance. None should pay more than this," says Shaikh Madar, CEO, Wakf Board.

But the prescribed fee is seldom charged. Caretakers of most graveyards usually collect anywhere between Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 3,000 per site. Graveyards attached to shrines have the highest price tag. The faithful believe that laying their kin to rest here is a sure ticket to heaven and they do not mind coughing up Rs. 1 lakh and above.

The Dair-e-Mir Momin at Sultan Shahi and the Khitte Saleheen, Darussalam, are quite expensive and sought-after burial sites. The tremendous increase in the city's population without a corresponding increase in cemeteries has compounded the problem, say Wakf Board officials. Also, the trend to build pucca graves by family members of the deceased has led to space problem.

"It is un-Islamic but few pay heed. Unless old graves are made use of, there will be no place to bury the dead," says Rashid Qasmi of Masjid-e-Ilahi.

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