Grave crisis deepens in the time of Covid

Retired banker Md Nazrul Islam searched in vain for a permanent burial space in Dhaka for himself and his family members. It turned out that in the city of 20 million people, securing a permanent resting place at government-run graveyards is next to impossible.

“I tried to buy a plot at government graveyards but failed,” the 75-year-old said. He finally bought two plots at a private commercial burial site on the outskirts of the capital city. 

The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) don’t allow permanent graves in any of their 10 graveyards.

Officials said that the graveyards were too few to accommodate the dead. They said that to ensure burial for all, they imposed excessive charges for grave reserving and discouraged people from making reservations.

Generally, bodies are buried in the same grave after two years. DSCC charges Tk 1,000 and DNCC Tk 500 for registration, excluding grave digging and bamboo costs, which range between Tk 100 and Tk 500.

Dhaka University’s Islamic studies Professor Mohammad Abdur Rashid said that Islam allows repeated burials in the same grave after the former body completely decomposes. He said that there was no prohibition on reserving burial places. 

No space left

City corporation officials said that currently, 300 people are buried in Dhaka graveyards daily.

In 2008, the city corporation finally decided not to allow permanent graves for the general people. “There won’t be any place to bury the dead if we accept all applications for reserved graves,” said DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam. 

He said they encouraged people to bury the dead in their ancestral places to reduce pressure on Dhaka’s graveyards. 

DSCC chief town planner Sirajul Islam told The Business Post that the city corporation had plans for new graveyards, but there was a shortage of land. 

The scarcity of graves has aggravated further amid the corona virus-related fatalities, officials at the DSCC said.

The city corporations only save the graves of important persons according to the government’s decision.

Grave rent much higher than flats

At Azimpur, Jurain and Khilgaon graveyards under the DSCC, reserving a grave for 10 years costs Tk 5 lakh. The cost goes up to Tk 10 lakh for 15 years and Tk 15 lakh for 20 years.

DNCC allows people to reserve graves in five graveyards out of six for a maximum of 25 years. It charges Tk 11 lakh to Tk 45 lakh for 25 years depending on the graveyard and Tk 6 lakh to Tk 18 lakh for 15 years. The cemeteries are Rayerbazar, Mirpur Shaheed Buddhijibi, Banani, Uttara Sector-4 and Sector-12.

One has to spend Tk 20 lakh for reserving a grave at Azimpur for 25 years. This means people have to pay Tk 6,666 per month for a 21 square feet area.

The average per square feet flat rent in a posh area is Tk 30 while the grave rent stands at Tk 317.

Over 2 lakh buried in Azimpur since 1986

Azimpur, the oldest burial ground maintained by the government agency in Dhaka, was established in the Mughal Period. 

Hafizur Rahman, working as a registrar at the graveyard for 16 years, said the registration system was introduced in 1911.

He said the cemetery could accommodate 26,000 bodies.

“Last year, we buried 8,500 people,” he said. “Since 1986, more than 2,00,000 people have been laid to rest here.” 

Private Graveyard comes to scene

There are 10 graveyards in Dhaka, four under the DSCC and six under DNCC. Families or housing societies own some cemeteries.

Purbachal Rawdatul Jannah, a concern of MIS Holdings, considered the first commercially run graveyard, offers people like retired banker Nazrul a final resting place. 

Showayeb Hossain, Managing Director of Rawdatul Jannah, said that the graveyard was located on a 200-bigha plot and can accommodate 80,000 graves.

“We have 2,000 graves ready, and over 300 plots have been sold. Twenty-five people have been buried here so far,” he said, noting that they are getting “good response” from people as death rate is increasing day by day due to Covid-19.

They charge Tk 30,000, including burial cost, while each of the plots cost Tk 4,80,000.

“I see it as social service as well as a profitable business,” Showayeb told The Business Post. “Our grave business will keep on growing, at least until the period the coronavirus exists.”