According to Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), a project of four new cemeteries at a cost of around Tk 200 crore was approved at Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) during fiscal year 2005-2006, only to be rejected by Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) department later due to fund constraints

"The LGRD reviewed the proposed project and suggested two new cemeteries instead of four due to fund constraints," said Shihab Ullah, project director of the designated project.

"The reviewed proposal approved by the LGRD was then sent to planning commission for their approval in February last year. Since then, there hasn't been any development with this project," added the project director.

According to DCC sources, the original proposed plan included construction of four new cemeteries on a 148.28-acre land at Hazaribagh, Mirpur, Badda and Demra.

On the other hand, the revised plan suggested constructing two new cemeteries at Mirpur and Aftab Nagar on around 100 acres of land at a cost of Tk 83 crore.

"As DCC is a non-profit and welfare organization, we asked the government to allocate money for land acquisition and construction work. Ever since, the government has been reluctant on this issue and I don't see any immediate solution to this," said Shihab Ullah.

While the project remains tied up in red tapes awaiting government approval, thousands of city inhabitants are living in anxiety that the existing DCC cemeteries would soon be filled up.

Moghbazar resident Mazhar Ahmed, 37, has been desperately looking for a grave for his uncle who passed away couple of days ago as he could not find any vacant grave in any of the 5 public cemeteries in the city. "The only option available to me is to ask my relatives to introduce me to a government official who could help me get a grave," said Ahmed.

"It's really dreadful for all the family members to go through something like this -- especially during terrible times like these," he added.

According to a report released by DCC, the authorities are capable to allocate only 25,000 graves each year against the soaring demand for burial grounds in the city.

The cost for reserving a grave at the five existing cemeteries are Tk 35,000 at Azimpur, Tk 25,000 at Mirpur, Tk 60,000 at Banani, Tk 25,000 at Jurain and Tk 1,00,000 at Uttara.

According to a source from the welfare department of DCC, DCC policies allow reservation of the general areas within the public cemeteries, but at a cost of 10 times the regular price of the regular reserved area.

"The high expenses are there to discourage people from acquiring lands at general areas as it would deprive people who are in immediate need of a grave," said a magistrate from welfare department of DCC seeking anonymity.

With the acute shortage of graves, majority of the city habitants are left with a disgraceful alternative of 'Chala Graves' -- where multiple dead bodies are buried in the same grave at different levels. These graves are temporary as new bodies are buried in these within less than a year.

Although DCC recommends waiting at least two years before burial in an existing grave, the official concerned believes this rule is flagrantly violated -- an allegation that cemetery managements deny.

"We have to wait at least 18 months before making a 'Chala Grave'," said Manik, an official at Azimpur cemetery. "But due to an enormous demand, we are compelled to violate the rules to make room for another 'Chala Grave' -- which is obviously unhygienic."

Many of the city habitants are also being compelled to find private cemeteries where owners charge outrageous amounts of money ranging from Tk 60,000 to Tk 70,000 for each grave.

"The rate of death in the city has increased due to sharp rise in population and the need for accommodations for the dead is strongly felt," said Nurul Alam, a first class magistrate at welfare department of DCC.

The 65-acre cemetery at Mirpur is the largest among the five DCC administered cemeteries followed by Azimpur (17.5 acres), Jurain (10.1 acres), Banani (4.5 acres) and Uttara (0.5 acres).